News 15:00

BULLETIN 19 February 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Shadrack Sibiya denies allegations about being Witness F’s middleman
# Britain’s former Prince Andrew is arrested on his 66th birthday
# And rugby: Antoine Dupont is embroiled in a storm regarding a salary cap breach

# Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has told the Madlanga commission Witness F does not report to him and never acted as a conduit for illicit funds. This follows testimony linking the witness as the middleman between Sibiya and murder-accused businessman Katiso Molefe. Sibiya admits a personal relationship, but denies corruption, noting KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi also has close ties to the witness:

# Independent economist Elize Kruger says January’s softer consumer price inflation is welcome news for struggling households. According to Statistics South Africa, the CPI edged down to 3.5-percent from 3.6-percent in December, returning to November levels. Stable food inflation at 4.4-percent and lower fuel prices supported the decline. Kruger emphasised that inflation remains within the South African Reserve Bank’s target range, easing pressure on interest rates and leaving room for possible rate cuts in the coming months.

Moving abroad:

# Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor – formerly Prince Andrew – has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. It comes after Thames Valley Police said they were assessing a complaint over his alleged sharing of confidential material with late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew, who turns 66 today, has consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing. The BBC reports vehicles, believed to be police cars, arrived at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England, this morning.

# Rugby: French captain Antoine Dupont is embroiled in a storm regarding a salary cap breach. He and Toulouse team-mate Anthony Jelonch were mentioned in a report by sports newspaper L’Equipe over suspect payments they allegedly received in order to help prevent the team from breaching salary cap regulations. The company 3S-Alyzia reportedly paid Dupont almost 29-million-rand and Jelonch about 3.2-millon-rand since 2017 for imaging rights and promotions, but the newspaper couldn’t find significant evidence of the company using the players for that purpose.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-15-cents and the euro at 19-rand-3-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-863-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-988-dollars-48-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-58-cents a barrel

# And finally: President Cyril Ramaphosa has hailed renowned futurist Clem Sunter for his visionary leadership following his death at 81. The former executive at Anglo American co-developed the influential High Road, Low Road scenario during apartheid. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, praised Sunter’s commitment to South Africa’s transformation, saying he shaped national debate on the terms of change and left a lasting impact on building an inclusive, prosperous and peaceful country:

Stay tuned for more news………….