News 14:00

BULLETIN 5 Febreuary 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA demands a parliamentary committee session on the SANDF’s Iran blunders
# Brian Molefe quits Parliament to focus on his MK Party treasury role
# And Olympics: Local champions will light the Winter Games cauldrons tomorrow

# The DA says it has asked the chairpersons of Parliament’s portfolio committees on Defence and International Relations and Cooperation, Molefi Legoete and Supra Mahumapelo, for the immediate scheduling of a long-overdue joint committee session. This is due to concerns over the lack of coordination between South Africa’s defence diplomacy and its official foreign policy. Spokesperson Chris Hattingh says this follows reported remarks by Defence Force chief, Rudzani Maphwanya, during his visit to Iran:

# Former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe has resigned as an MK Party Member of Parliament to concentrate on his role as Treasurer General. The party confirmed the move, saying Molefe was appointed to the position last month. This marks his second exit from Parliament following a brief stint for the ANC in 2017. Molefe’s departure follows that of fellow MK Party member Lucky Montana. Both have been named in the state capture report, with no convictions to date.

Moving abroad:

# US president Donald Trump says a potential joint Republican presidential run by vice president JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in 2028 would be difficult for opponents to defeat. Neither men have publicly stated their intentions to run. Rubio ran for the party’s presidential nomination in 2016, but lost to Trump. In an interview on NBC News, Trump declined to endorse a successor:

# Olympics: Local Olympic champions Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni will have the honour of lighting the cauldrons when the Milano Cortina Winter Games start in Northern Italy tomorrow. The athletes, now in their 50s, both clinched three gold medals and are regarded as among the most popular Italian athletes of their generation. Tomba will light the cauldron at the culmination of the opening ceremony in Milan, while Compagnoni will light a second cauldron at co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-14-cents and the euro at 19-rand-3-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-92-cents and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-426-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-864-dollars-40-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-26-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The City of Cape Town’s Urban Mobility Directorate, together with the University of Cape Town, will soon launch a pilot project to test electric buses on the MyCiTi network. The 1.7-million-rand study, funded by the metro and the eBRT2030 Consortium, will see up to four 12-metre e-buses operating across multiple routes for about a year. Officials will assess battery performance, charging times, passenger loads and costs, ahead of a full rollout planned for next year.

Stay tuned for more news………….