News 07:00

BULLETIN 29 January 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA says South African soldiers are paying the price for Denel’s mismanagement
# Stats SA updates the consumer inflation basket
# And Iran warns against an attack on its nuclear facilities

# The DA says the South African National Defence Force soldiers are paying the ultimate price for the abhorrent mismanagement at Denel. The Special Investigating Unit has revealed that Denel received 8.3-billion-rand in 2007 to deliver 264 Badger armoured personnel carriers. To date, none of these have reached the troops. The DA says Denel has also failed to certify the missiles needed to equip Gripen fighter jets with strike power, making the jets impotent for Democratic Republic of Congo combat. It adds that this flagrant looting is tantamount to treason.

Meanwhile, ActionSA has criticised the government for wasting nearly nine-billion-rand in taxpayer bailouts to Denel over the past five years. This was after the Special Investigating Unit revealed massive corruption and mismanagement at the state-owned aerospace and military technology company. ActionSA’s Alan Beesley says Denel, once a key player in national security, is now on the brink of collapse, jeopardising the country’s defence capacity:

# The Freedom Front Plus has launched an investigation into Swellendam council speaker and member Juan van Schalkwyk. This is after it supported a motion of no confidence by the ANC to remove DA mayor Francois du Rand. The motion passed on Monday and accused Du Rand of failing to act on misconduct allegations. FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald says Van Schalkwyk’s conduct runs counter to the party’s decision that it will not support nor agree with the ANC in a motion of no confidence of this nature.

# Stats SA has revamped the consumer inflation basket, adding 71 products, removing 53, and reorganising 29. New additions include basmati rice, streaming services, gas cylinders, and school uniforms, while items like ground coffee and satellite TV decoders were dropped. Chief Director for Price Statistics, Patrick Kelly, says adjusted product weights highlight increased spending on food and telecommunications. He says that the updated basket, now with 391 items, will influence inflation reporting from February:

# Iranian Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has warned that they will respond with maximum force against those who attack their nuclear facilities. Israel has threatened to attack Iran’s nuclear weapons programme with US backing. During his first term, US president Donald Trump pursued a policy of maximum pressure on Iran, withdrawing from a landmark 2015 deal that imposed curbs on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief. Araghchi told Sky News that its nuclear programme is for civilian and peaceful purposes:

# Rugby: Twins Tom and Ben Curry will play together for England for the first time in their Six Nations opener against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday. The 26-year old brothers, who both play for Sale Sharks, will fill the flanker positions on either side of number eight Ben Earl. Tom Curry is given the number six jersey. Cadan Murley will make his debut on the left wing. Alex Mitchell has recovered from injury to start at scrum-half, with Marcus Smith at fly-half. Maro Itoje will captain England for the first time.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-68-cents and the euro at 19-rand-48-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-24-cents and Bitcoin trades at 101-thousand-775-dollar-70-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-765-dollars-80-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-46-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….