News 16:00

BULLETIN 13 February 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Freedom Front Plus reaffirms its commitment to the government of national unity despite policy disagreements
# Soil of Africa is concerned about the deployment of the SANDF to help the police
# And rugby: The Highlanders’ All Blacks lock Fabian Holland faces a long lay-off after dislocating his shoulder

# The Freedom Front Plus says it remains committed to the government of national unity despite frustrations with the government’s foreign policy on Venezuela and Iran. The FF Plus also opposes the National Health Insurance Act, the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act and the Expropriation Act, but says it will continue working in the GNU to represent its policies. Party leader Corné Mulder says disagreements on policies are expected within the coalition.

# The Soil of Africa Movement is concerned over president Cyril Ramaphosa’s deployment of the South African National Defence Force to support police operations in Gauteng and the Western Cape. This is to help tackle gang violence and illegal mining. The movement’s chairperson, Bongani Ramontja, says while they recognise the depth of the crisis facing communities, they reject the continued use of militarisation as a substitute for bold, structural economic transformation:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has reaffirmed that freedom of religion is constitutionally protected and congregants must be safeguarded from abuse. The committee met faith leaders over concerns about the Commission for Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Section 22 Committee. Chairperson Zweli Mkhize says consultations will continue to find common ground. Religious groups oppose possible state regulation, while legal action challenging the process is before the courts.

# Statistics South Africa says mining production in December last year rose by 2.5-percent year-on-year, led by strong gains in iron ore and manganese. Platinum group metals and coal recorded declines, and seasonally adjusted production fell 1.2-percent compared with November. Stats SA’s Juan-Pierre Terblanche says overall mineral sales for last year rose 7.3-percent compared with 2024, reflecting higher demand and rising commodity prices:

# Rugby: The Highlanders will be without All Black lock Fabian Holland for the entire Super Rugby Season after he dislocated his shoulder during a pre-season match. He will undergo an operation next week and should only be fit for New Zealand’s tour of South Africa in August, also missing out on the Nations Championship matches against France, Italy and Ireland. Dutch-born Holland was named World Rugby’s breakthrough player of the year last year after playing twelve Tests for the All Blacks in his debut season.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-3-cents and the euro at 19-rand-2-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-82-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-18-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-970-dollars-56-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-72-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….