News 17:00

BULLETIN 20 February 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Shadrack Sibiya concedes over the unauthorised deactivation of 121 political killing task team dockets
# Police search the royal mansion as the investigation into the king’s brother goes on
# And rugby: The Stormers welcome new hooker Vernon Paulo

# The Madlanga Commission’s Sesi Baloyi challenged suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya, saying the SS9 communication document he relied on in administrative procedures contained no written instruction to implement the deactivation process of the 121 political killing task team dockets. Commissioner Baloyi suggested Sibiya acted without authority. Sibiya responded that he felt oppressed by the official process, and believed he was following directives from the National Commissioner’s office:

# Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health has raised concerns over the Department of Health’s due diligence in awarding a 15.5-billion-rand anti-retroviral tender to two companies now under business rescue. Members questioned claims that 70-percent of ARVs are locally procured. The committee also called for progress on establishing a state-owned pharmaceutical company. It also demanded greater transparency, accountability and written responses on localisation, financial assessments and risk mitigation in the tender process.

# The City of Cape Town says it will propose a 10.2-percent lowering of the rate-in-rand for residential properties following the General Valuation 2025. Cape Town’s rate-in-rand, the formula used to calculate property rates, is the lowest in South Africa across all rate categories. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the proposed rate-in-rand decrease and extended rates benefits to more middle-class homes will shield the large majority of ratepayers:

# British police searched the former mansion of King Charles’ younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, today after a photograph of the royal emerging from a police station was splashed on newspapers around the world. Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested yesterday over allegations that he sent confidential government documents to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein when he was a trade envoy. A conviction for misconduct in a public office carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and cases must be dealt with in a Crown Court, which handle the most serious criminal offences.

# Rugby: The Stormers have confirmed the signing of hooker Vernon Paulo before the next round of the United Rugby Championship. Director of Rugby John Dobson says the 24-year-old’s natural abilities and passion for the team makes him an attractive prospect. Paulo was born and raised in Riversdale in the Western Cape and attended Oakdale Agricultural School. He went on to star for the NWU Eagles in the Varsity Cup, winning the trophy in 2023, and made his professional debut for the Cheetahs later that same year.

 # And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-10-cents and the euro at 18-rand-95-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-70-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-148-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-26-dollars-48-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-9-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….