News 06:00

BULLETIN 11 February 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Julius Malema accuses Paul Kagame of supporting the M23 rebels
# The MK Party says AfriForum deliberately wants to weaken South Africa
# And mixed martial arts: Du Plessis earned 61.5-million-rand

# EFF leader Julius Malema says the South African National Defence Force deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo is reckless and not a peacekeeping mission. Speaking in Parliament, Malema paid tribute to the 14 fallen SANDF soldiers and blamed poor leadership for their deaths. He accused Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame of supporting the M23 rebels:

Meanwhile, the ACDP is calling for a Parliamentary inquiry into the deaths of South African National Defence Force soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. During the parliamentary debate, the party’s Steve Swart says the SANDF troops were not properly equipped for the peacekeeping mission, lacking key resources such as the Rooivalk attack helicopter, cargo air support, and advanced artillery:

# The MK Party says AfriForum lobbying the US government to impose punitive economic measures on South Africa, is a deliberate attempt to weaken the state. The party has opened a treason case against the lobby group, following US president Donald Trump’s decision to cut financial aid to South Africa. He also offered refugee status to Afrikaners. MK Party’s deputy president, John Hlophe, says the government must take diplomatic and legal steps to counteract the economic aggression instigated by America:

# The Public Servants Association says it is concerned about reports of corruption and bribery allegations involving a senior official at the Department of Home Affairs. Acting chief director of Employee Engagement, Percy Tshabane, is accused of soliciting bribes from service providers responsible for chairing disciplinary hearings and prosecuting cases. According to reports, he has refused to sign and approve invoices unless bribes were paid in return. The association is calling on Home Affairs minister, Leon Schreiber, to act decisively against corruption.

# Mixed martial arts: South Africa’s UFC middleweight world champion, Dricus du Plessis, took home a cool 61.5-million-rand when he defeated Sean Strickland in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday. Du Plessis convincingly beat the American in their rematch after taking the belt from him for the first time in January last year. The three judges scored the fight 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 in Du Plessis’ favour. Strickland will be able to smile despite his broken nose though, as his prize money is 19.9-million-rand.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-43-cents and the euro at 18-rand-99-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-79-cents and Bitcoin trades at 97-thousand-339-dollar-90-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-911-dollars-63-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-98-cents a barrel.

# And finally: New marriages recorded in China fell to a record low last year. Some 6.1 million couples registered their marriages, a plunge of 20.5% from 2023. Plummeting marriages and births pose a severe challenge to Beijing, as it grapples with a shrinking workforce and rapidly aging population. The data also showed a slight increase in the number of divorces. China has mandated a 30-day “cooling-off” period for people filing for divorce since 2021, despite criticism that it could make it harder for women to leave broken or even abusive marriages.

Stay tuned for more news………….