News 18:00

BULLETIN 5 February 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cyril Ramaphosa hails the South African Revenue Service as a highly trusted, efficient institution
# Dianne Kohler Barnard denies the mishandling of crime intelligence information
# And, the Labour Appeal Court upholds the dismissal of ex-acting SAPS commissioner, Khomotso Phahlane

# President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the South African Revenue Service as one of the most effective, best run and trusted state institutions. He conducted an oversight visit to SARS’ National Command Centre in Pretoria. Ramaphosa highlighted that public trust in SARS has grown from 48-percent to 75-percent over five-years. He lauded its role in boosting investor confidence, improving tax administration, and contributing to South Africa’s sovereign credit rating upgrade:

# DA member of Parliament Dianne Kohler Barnard has denied mishandling crime intelligence information. She appeared before Parliament’s ad hoc committee looking into alleged police corruption and political interference. The claims relate to the 23-million-rand purchase of a Pretoria luxury hotel using a secret slush fund. The allegations come after KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused her of sharing classified information. Barnard says the information was already in the public domain:

# The Labour Appeal Court has upheld the 2020 dismissal of former acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, rejecting his bid to return to the Police Service. Phahlane was found guilty of dishonest conduct and bringing the service into disrepute over a 460-million-rand contract for 360-degree cameras. The court ruled there was no irregularity in the arbitration process. Despite Phahlane claiming his dismissal was unfair, the court confirmed his removal from SAPS as lawful after a three-year suspension and investigation.

# The National Student Financial Aid Scheme has reported progress in its approvals for students as more than 180-thousand outstanding documents have been resubmitted, resulting in an additional 50-thousand student approvals before registration closed. NSFAS confirms applications for the 2026 academic year are still being processed for first-time entrants, returning university students and TVET learners. However, incorrect or unclear submissions continue to delay outcomes. NSFAS urges students to upload clear documents, ensuring consent and declaration forms are fully completed to avoid further processing backlogs.

# Soccer: Manchester City’s manager, Pep Guardiola, urges a rule change in order for defender Marc Guehi to play for his team in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal. City reached the title match yesterday when they beat defending champions Newcastle United 5-1 on aggregate. Guehi is deemed ineligible for the final because he played for Crystal Palace earlier in the competition before moving to City. Guardiola says it doesn’t make sense that they are not allowed to use a player they paid a lot of money for.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-15-cents and the euro at 19-rand-8-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-846-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-837-dollars-69-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-43-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….