News 13:00

BULLETIN 4 February 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# John Steenhuisen steps down as DA leader
# TLU SA criticises president Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of his state of the nation address
# And Olympics: A Spanish figure skater is devastated over the ban to use theme music from Minions

# DA leader John Steenhuisen will not seek a third term to lead the party. His announcement comes ahead of this year’s local government elections. Speaking from KwaZulu-Natal, Steenhuisen confirmed he will remain minister of Agriculture. He will hand over in April, saying he is leaving the party stronger in government. Steenhuisen describes his leadership mission as accomplished, saying the DA is positioned for future growth:

# Agricultural organisation TLU SA criticised president Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of his state of the nation address next Thursday, saying repeated promises have failed to deliver economic growth, jobs, and stability. The organisation’s Bennie van Zyl says plans announced last year, including infrastructure investment and state-owned enterprise reform, produced little change. He calls for honest accountability, concrete reforms, and policies that support investment and job creation:

# The Mpact Group is considering shutting its paper mill in Springs on the Gauteng East Rand after many decades of operation. The board announced it has approved the commencement of a retrenchment process, pending the mill’s closure. The factory is the only domestic producer of cartonboard and currently employs 377 people. Due to significant overcapacity in the global cartonboard market, and the current value of the rand, the mill’s largest customers are able to import cartonboard at prices approximately 20-percent below the mill’s production cost.

# The George Municipality council has approved the request to have the municipal area classified as a local disaster. This is due to severe water challenges and the current drought conditions. The Western Cape Disaster Management Centre will now conduct a formal assessment. The municipality’s spokesperson, Ntobeko Mangqwengqwe, says the city’s main water source, the Garden Route Dam, was at 44.77-percent on 26 January, a sharp decline from 87.87-percent recorded during the same period last year:

# Olympics: Spanish figure skater Tomas Sabate’s preparations for the Milano-Cortina Winter Games in Italy were hampered when he couldn’t secure the rights to compete to his favourite track from the movie series Minions. The 26-year-old, known for his eccentric routines, says he’s incredibly disappointed, but copyright clearance issues prevent him from using the song. Sabate says he uses the song to bring joy and a playful style to the sport while wearing the characters’ yellow and blue attire.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-97-cents and the euro at 18-rand-89-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 76-thousand-157-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-and-62-dollars-13-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….