News 17:00
BULLETIN 26 January 5 pm
Good afternoon. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# The International Court of Justice rules in favour of South Africa
# The Tshwane Council approves a strategic plan to tackle highjacked and illegally occupied buildings
# And rugby: Bloemfontein will host a historic first Test between the Boks and Portugal
# The International Court of Justice has issued an order to Israel, urging them to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure that their troops do not commit any genocidal acts in Gaza. ICJ president Joan Donoghue delivered the ruling on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, emphasising the need for Israel to take measures to prevent and punish direct incitement of genocide during its war in Gaza. Donoghue noted the importance of protecting civilian lives
# The City of Tshwane council has approved the Tshwane Sustainable and Better Buildings Programme, which aims to drive inner city regeneration by tackling neglected and illegally occupied buildings. The city says negligent property owners, slumlords, and building hijacking syndicates have taken advantage of people who are desperate for affordable and well-located accommodation. The city’s Kingsley Wakelin says they will take a proactive approach to tackle neglected buildings, either by forcing the sale of the property through the courts, or expropriation:
# The Department of Water and Sanitation has initiated public consultations on amendments to the National Water Act and Water Services Act. Gazetted in November, the acts invite the public to share input within 60 days. The department seeks public participation to enhance a collaborative approach to water management. The consultations also aim to improve access to water and sanitation. The department’s Wisane Mavasa says the first consultations will take place in the Northern Cape next week:
# The Anaesthesiologists Society of Namibia’s Jesse Mumba has appealed for consultation over Medical Aid Fund’s unchanged tariffs for 2024. Last year, the fund announced the standard tariffs for 2023 would remain unchanged going into 2024, without consulting members or healthcare providers. It establishes benchmark tariffs annually, which serve as the basis for determining member benefits across all medical funds. Mumba says collaboration between stakeholders, including fund members, healthcare providers and the fund, are crucial to ensure fair and effective healthcare policies.
# Rugby: Bloemfontein will host the very first Test between South Africa and Portugal in July. The Springboks will also play home games against Ireland, the All Blacks and Argentina. The world champions will take on Ireland in Pretoria on the sixth of July, and a week later in Durban. The Test against Portugal will take place on the 20th of July, followed by matches against New Zealand at Ellis Park on 31 August, and Cape Town on 7 September. The Boks will face Los Pumas in Mbombela on 28 September .
# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-78-cents and the euro at 20-rand-43-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 41-thousand-150-dollars-50-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-23-dollars-88-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-24-cents a barrel.
Stay tuned for more news………….