News 09:00

BULLETIN 18 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA welcomes the one million foot and mouth disease vaccines set to arrive this weekend
# Cape Town has the lowest unemployment rate in the country
# And, the US military kills another 11 alleged narco terrorists

# The DA has welcomed the confirmation by the minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, that the first batch of one million high-potency foot-and-mouth disease vaccine doses will arrive in South Africa this weekend. Government plans to vaccinate the entire national herd of over 14 million cattle over the next 12 months, with an estimated 28 million doses required to curb the outbreak. The DA’s Beyers Smit says the vaccines will bring much relief to the agricultural sector:

# Teachers’ union SADTU has criticised the South African Council for Educators for charging monthly subscription fees to unemployed teaching graduates. The union says the policy is unfair and places extra financial pressure on young people who are already struggling to find jobs. It says the fees prevent qualified and passionate graduates from entering the teaching profession. SADTU’s Nomusa Cembi calls on the council to remove the fees and support aspiring teachers.

# The City of Cape Town has added 113-thousand jobs year-on-year – the highest of the metros, with employment now at a record level of 1.895 million people working in the Mother City. This is according to Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the fourth quarter of 2025. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says Cape Town also continues to lead South Africa’s cities with the lowest unemployment rate, now down to 19.8-percent, likely underpinned by strong tourism sector performance:

# The US military killed eleven people after striking three alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean. The military described the deceased as narco-terrorists. The US Southern Command says intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations. The strikes bring the death toll from the US campaign, which began in September last year, up to at least 135. The strikes have been criticised by legal experts and Democratic members of Congress who say they amount to murdering civilians.

# Soccer: Real Madrid’s Champions League knockout play-off tie at Benfica was halted for ten minutes after Vinicius Junior refused to play following an alleged racist comment made to him by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni. The Brazilian had just given Madrid the lead when the Argentinian confronted him. Referee Francois Letexier temporarily stopped the game following Vinicius’ complaint, and the game restarted in the 60th minute with Madrid winning 1-0. Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold condemned the incident:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand and the euro at 18-rand-95-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-69-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-642-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-920-dollars-32-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-12-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….