News 06:00

BULLETIN 23 February 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Eligible first-time voters are urged to register before the end of the day
# Judges Matter is calling for a speedy process to deal with judicial misconduct cases
# And, the United Nations Human Rights chief deplores the horrific human cost of the war between Ukraine and Russia

# First-time voters have until the end of today to register online through the Independent Electoral Commission’s portal or by visiting local offices. The election date of the 29th of May, as announced by president Cyril Ramaphosa, is expected to be gazetted by midnight. IEC vice-chairperson Janet Love emphasises the importance of eligible voters registering to exercise their democratic right:

# Judges Matter is calling on the Judicial Service Commission to fast-track judicial misconduct cases. Parliament has voted in favour of the removal of Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe and retired Judge Nkola Motata after the two were both found guilty of gross judicial misconduct. Judges Matter says the length of time that both the Hlophe and Motata cases took to resolve, speaks to the failure of the misconduct process. It adds that amendments to the Judicial Service Commission Act could ensure a speedy process of adjudication of complaints.

# The EFF in Gauteng says it’s alarmed by premier Panyaza Lesufi’s plan to acquire 18 private hospitals for the National Health Insurance. They argue the move reflects a lack of understanding of NHI fundamentals. The party opposes outsourcing healthcare to the private sector. The EFF’s Naledi Chirwa urges caution against backdoor agreements with collapsing healthcare facilities. She advocates for the nationalising of all strategic sectors, including private healthcare, for a sustainable one-tier healthcare system:

# The Congress of the People in the Eastern Cape says premier Oscar Mabuyane’s State of the Province address was disappointing, proving that the current political and administrative leadership is incompetent. The premier’s address yesterday came amid staggering unemployment rates of 47.1-percent. Cope says after 30 years of misrule, the province remains the poorest in South Africa with 67-percent of its people living in poverty. It adds that it will embark on a mass mobilisation programme to remove the ANC from office in the province.

# The United Nations Human Rights chief, Volker Türk, says Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine continues to cause serious and widespread human rights violations, destroying lives and livelihoods. In its latest report, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has verified 30-thousand-457 civilian casualties since February 2022. Türk is calling for all violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law in Russia and Ukraine to be thoroughly and independently investigated, and accountability and reparations to victims ensured.

# Rugby: The Bulls hope to fill up Loftus when the Stormers visit Pretoria for a United Rugby Championship match next weekend. The hosts want to attract the biggest number of spectators in the URC outside the play-offs. TimesLIVE reports over 20-thousand of the available 50-thousand tickets have already been sold. The Bulls’ marketing manager, Shanil Mangaroo, says there is huge interest in the traditional north/south derby, regarded as the most bitterly contested duel in the country.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-16-cents and the euro at 20-rand-75-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-27-cents and Bitcoin trades at 51-thousand-465-dollars-30-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-25-dollars-15-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-36-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….