News 09:00

BULLETIN 20 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa has reclaimed its position as Africa’s largest economy
# TLU SA demands real results from budget 2026, not just promises
# And, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is released after 11 hours in police custody

# The ANC has welcomed the International Monetary Fund’s latest update, confirming that South Africa has officially reclaimed its position as Africa’s largest economy in nominal gross domestic product terms for 2025. Revised projections place the country ahead of Egypt and Nigeria. The ANC says this milestone affirms the resilience of the economy and the correctness of the policy direction pursued under president Cyril Ramaphosa. It adds that from maintaining fiscal discipline and narrowing the budget deficit to advancing energy reforms, government has acted deliberately to restore certainty and growth momentum.

# The agricultural organisation TLU SA has urged the minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana to turn this year’s budget promises into measurable results. The agricultural body warns that without stronger law enforcement and improved state capacity, economic recovery and job creation will remain on paper. The organisation’s Bennie van Zyl also cautions that taxpayers cannot absorb further financial shocks and calls for proper oversight, accountability, and efficient use of public funds:

# The Freedom Front Plus says it is concerned about the water crisis in the City of Johannesburg and the metro’s ongoing failure to collect outstanding municipal debt. Johannesburg is currently owed 71-billion-rand in unpaid municipal bills. A significant portion of this arises from areas such as Soweto, where monthly collection rates fluctuate between 40 and 50-percent. The FF Plus’ Franco de Lange says in contrast, the northern and western suburbs consistently maintain monthly collection rates above 90-percent:

# Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was released from police custody last night, after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office over revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein files. Emails of the paedophile financier released by the US Department of Justice appeared to show the former duke sharing reports of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore while he was UK trade envoy. He has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Lawyer for Epstein’s victims, Lisa Bloom, told Sky News that Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest is welcomed:

# Paralympics: Ukraine’s Winter Paralympics team will boycott the event’s opening ceremony next month in Italy. This follows the decision by the International Paralympic Committee to allow six Russian athletes and four from Belarus to participate in the Winter Games under their countries’ flags. Ukrainian officials have already stated that they will boycott the entire competition. Ukraine’s National Paralympic Committee has described the IPC’s decision as shameful and said that it completely contradicts the principles of the Games.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-15-cents and the euro at 19-rand. One British pound costs 21-rand-72-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-184-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-991-dollars-83-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-51-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….