News 06:00

BULLETIN 9 February 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Mantashe says Africa holds an unparalleled share of the world’s natural resources
# The DA says foot and mouth disease is out of control in Gauteng
# And rugby: Philip Snyman is proud of his Blitzboks, crowned champions in Perth

# Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe says that while Africa holds an unparalleled share of the world’s natural resources essential for industrialisation, digitalisation, and global economic growth, the continent remains largely poor. Speaking ahead of the opening of the 2026 African Mining Indaba in Cape Town on Sunday, Mantashe said mobilising capital at the scale required for exploration, responsible mining, and value addition closer to the point of production cannot be achieved by governments alone. He added that South Africa is already acting on this approach.

# The MK Party has formally requested an urgent snap debate in Parliament to address South Africa’s deepening national water crisis. Spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela says across the country, communities face dry taps, polluted water, collapsing sewage systems, and failing wastewater treatment works. Ndhlela calls on Parliament to urgently investigate how this crisis was allowed to escalate, to demand firm accountability from president, Cyril Ramaphosa for failing to honour the commitments made in his 2025 SONA, where he assured that the water crisis would be resolved.

# Eskom says it will return three-thousand-810-megawatts of generation capacity ahead of the evening peak today to maintain a stable electricity supply throughout the week. The power utility’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says planned maintenance was at an average of five-thousand-354-megawatts, accounting for 11.38-percent of total generation capacity. She says this is  slightly less than last week’s 11.41-percent:

# The DA in Gauteng is concerned about the lack of plans to combat the outbreak in the province. The party says it identified several serious shortcomings in the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department’s latest presentation on the management of the FMD outbreak. The DA’s Bronwynn Engelbrecht says, according to the department’s own figures, Gauteng has experienced hundreds of outbreaks:

# British prime minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, has resigned over his role in the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. This comes after police launched a criminal investigation into claims that Mandelson passed market-sensitive government information to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. McSweeney says he takes full responsibility for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson, a decision that had undermined trust in the Labour Party, the country, and politics itself. He adds that he remains fully supportive of the prime minister. 

# Rugby: Springbok Sevens coach Philip Snyman praised his players’ effort and belief as they won the Perth Sevens, rebounding after last weekend’s fourth place in Singapore. South Africa defeated Fiji 21-19 to claim their first title on Australian soil since 2017. In the women’s draw, New Zealand thrashed Australia 29-7 to claim their third title of the season. Snyman says the victory in the final came down to composure, gritty defence, and good discipline:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-2-cents and the euro at 18-rand-89-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-78-cents and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-877-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-989-dollars-42-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-55-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….