News 09:00

BULLETIN 6 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Dean Macpherson believes John Steenhuisen would have easily won a third term as DA leader
# TLU SA says the AGOA extension is a great benefit for the country’s exporters
# And, Donald Trump calls on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act

# DA KwaZulu-Natal chairperson Dean Macpherson believes that outgoing leader John Steenhuisen would have comfortably won another term. Steenhuisen won’t be seeking re-election for a third term at the party’s elective congress in April, citing his need to focus on being the minister of Agriculture and combating the foot-and-mouth disease. Macpherson, who is also the minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, says Steenhuisen showed remarkable political intuition and maturity to not run for re-election and allow the next generation to take the DA to the next level.

# Agriculture organisation TLU SA has welcomed the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act for a year. The extension comes at a time when South Africa continues to engage with the US on an agreement on reciprocal tariffs, which seeks to reduce the 30-percent tariff imposed by America on goods exported from South Africa. TLU SA’s Bennie van Zyl says the Agoa extension will benefit many South African exporters, particularly of automobiles, fruit and wine:

# Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, has received the final report of the Stabilisation and Governance Support Team for the College of Cape Town. The team was established to conduct an independent fact-finding process into the governance, operational and management challenges at the College. The department’s spokesperson, Matshepo Seedat, says this intervention was about restoring order and protecting the right of students to learn in a stable and functional environment:

# US president Donald Trump has called on Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a legislation that would tighten voting requirements. The House of Representatives passed the act last year. This comes as the White House has downplayed the president’s recent call to nationalise elections. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says president Trump is primarily concerned with passing legislation to tighten safeguards against non-citizens voting in elections:

# Cricket: Pakistan’s captain, Salman Agha, says they will seek government advice if they have to meet co-host India in the knockout phase of the T20 World Cup. Their government already refused them permission to play the arch enemy in next Sunday’s group match, but a refusal in a knockout match will mean elimination. Agha realises they will have to win their matches against Namibia, the Netherlands and America and hope for good weather to survive the group stage. Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-26-cents and the euro at 19-rand-19-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-5-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-558-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-825-dollars-46-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-66-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….