News 08:00

BULLETIN 24 February 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The remaining South African men lured into the Russia-Ukraine war are set to return home
# A survey finds 96-percent of South Africans believe there is no justice for crime
# And, the former British ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, is arrested

# A second group of South African men, who were allegedly lured into fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine, arrived in Moscow on Monday and are expected to fly home soon. Four of the original group of 17 arrived in South Africa last week. According to News24, eleven of the remaining 13 South Africans had reached Moscow, while an injured member of the group was hospitalised and another member had decided to remain in Russia. The men are believed to have travelled to Russia under the pretext of employment opportunities.

# Action Society says public confidence in the justice system is near total collapse. According to its newly launched criminal justice trust indicator, trust in the system scored just four out of 100, with most respondents believing criminals get away with serious offences and that delays in police and court processes are widespread. The organisation’s Juanita du Preez says restoring public trust is essential for the system to function effectively:

# Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi says the province has paid more than nine-billion-rand toward its 20-billion-rand e-toll debt. The e-tolling system was officially scrapped in 2024. The provincial government committed to paying 30-percent of the e-toll debt, while the South African National Roads Agency committed to paying 70-percent of the government’s debt. Delivering the State of the Province Address yesterday evening, Lesufi said the decision to take this debt has created opportunities for the building of new roads:

# Former UK ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The 72-year-old is alleged to have passed on market-sensitive government information to the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, while he was the Business Secretary from 2008 to 2010, when Gordon Brown was prime minister. He has previously denied any wrongdoing. Mandelson’s arrest comes days after King Charles’ brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was also arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over his links to Epstein. 

# Rugby: Defending champions University of Cape Town-Ikeys bounced back from last week’s defeat to beat Central University of Technology 83-34 in the second round of the Varsity Cup. North West University-Eagles made it two wins from two with a commanding 63-15 victory against newly promoted Emeris. University of Pretoria-Tuks also secured back-to-back victories with a clinical 38-22 win over Free State-Shimlas. University of Stellenbosch-Maties returned to winning ways, defeating University of Johannesburg 39-19.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand and the euro at 18-rand-86-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-60-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-80-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-187-dollars-63-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-64-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….