News 09:00

BULLETIN 2 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Steenhuisen says court cases could derail the procurement of foot and mouth disease vaccines
# Saftu calls on the government to further downgrade diplomatic relations with Israel
# And netball: South Africa secure a hard-fought series triumph against England

# Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen has warned that court cases could derail the urgent procurement and rollout of the foot-and-mouth disease vaccines. Sakeliga, SAAI, and Free State Agriculture have launched legal action demanding that livestock owners be allowed to administer vaccines privately. Steenhuisen says this legal venture is most unfortunate as it seeks to attack the Animal Diseases Act, under which the State is about to procure vaccines and roll out the FMD plan:

# Union federation Saftu has called on government to take further, decisive action to downgrade diplomatic relations with Israel. This comes after the Department of International Relations and Cooperation declared Israel’s Charge d’ Affaires, Ariel Seidman, persona non grata for repeatedly violating diplomatic norms. In response, Israel expelled Shaun Byneveldt, who is South Africa’s representative to Palestine. Saftu says government must also suspend military, security and trade cooperation with Israel and intensify its action at the International Court of Justice.

# Gauteng Finance and Economic Development MEC Lebogang Maile says overall municipal expenditure stood at just 34-percent by 31 December 2025, describing the figure as concerning and low. While the integrated electrification grant sits at 59-percent, the public transport network grant lags at 21-percent, risking funding cuts. Maile says National Treasury has instructed municipalities to prioritise infrastructure renewal, allocating 60-percent of capital budgets to ageing assets and boosting repairs and maintenance:

# Former British ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, has resigned his membership of the Labour Party, saying he wants to avoid causing further embarrassment to the party. This comes as the latest batch of Jeffrey Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice includes bank statements detailing three money transfers from the paedophile financier to Mandelson. He has denied the allegations but has reiterated his regret for ever having known Epstein and for continuing his association following the disgraced financier’s conviction.

# Netball: South Africa defeated England 65-50 in the third and final Test in Johannesburg to seal a hard-fought 2–1 series victory. After losing the first Test, Roses levelled the series on Saturday with a 61-49 win to set up the winner-takes-all game on Sunday. England and South Africa are in the same six-team pool for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Proteas coach Jenny van Dyk says her players put on a clinical performance to win the series:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-24-cents and the euro at 19-rand-28-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-22-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 75-thousand-567-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-642-dollars-75-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….