News 16:00

BULLETIN 16 February 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Zimbabwe and Namibia halt live animal and meat imports from South Africa
# The GOOD Party criticises the City of Cape Town’s proposed N2 wall
# And rugby: Perth will host the Springboks against the Wallabies in September

# Zimbabwe and Namibia have banned meat and livestock imports from South Africa due to the worsening foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. Other countries, including Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique and China, have also imposed restrictions to protect their livestock industries. The outbreak has been declared a national disaster by president Cyril Ramaphosa, as cases continue to spread nationwide. Government has launched vaccination efforts to contain the disease and restore South Africa’s disease-free status.

# The Forum for South Africa says while the vetting of police members is necessary, more needs to be done. In his state of the nation address last Thursday, Ramaphosa said the State Security Agency will re-vet the senior management of the police and Metro Police Departments, including lifestyle audits. FOSA leader Tebogo Masholompane says this follows revelations before the Madlanga commission and Parliament’s ad hoc committee:

# The GOOD Party in Cape Town says the safety of motorists on the N2 is non-negotiable, but must never be weaponised to criminalise poverty or strip residents of informal settlements of their dignity. The metro has allocated over 100-million-rand for the erection of a wall along the N2 to protect motorists from increased hijackings and smash-and-grabs. GOOD’s Siyabulela Mamkeli says the metro has opted for divisive and cosmetic interventions:

Moving abroad:

# Iran’s Foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, will meet the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog chief later today ahead of US-Iranian talks to tackle their dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme. This also comes as American warships are being deployed to the Middle East. The two sides held indirect talks in Oman earlier this month. Araqchi said on X he is in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal, adding Iran will not be threatened.

# Rugby: Perth, renowned for its strong support for the Springboks, will host the world champions against Australia in a Mandela Plate Test in September. This is one of six home Tests for the Wallabies confirmed by Rugby Australia. Perth will also host a Test against Italy in July in the inaugural Nations Championship. Before then, the Aussies will play Ireland in Sydney and France in Brisbane. In August, Japan will face the Wallabies in Townsville, followed by the Bledisloe Cup match against the All Blacks in Sydney.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-95-cents and the euro at 18-rand-92-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-401-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-996-dollars-43-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-32-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….