News 07:00

BULLETIN 7 February 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says South Africa is committed to a resolution in the DRC
# Golf: Italy’s Filippo Celli leads the Cape Town Open
# And the hottest January on record shocks scientists

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says the presence of South African peacekeepers in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is a testament to the continued commitment to the peaceful resolution of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts. Fourteen South African National Defence Force soldiers have been killed in fighting with the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in the DRC. In his state of the nation address on Thursday evening, Ramaphosa said all parties must embrace the current diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful resolution:

Ramaphosa also says funding for South Africa’s municipalities, many of which are edging closer to complete collapse, will be reviewed. South Africa’s 257 municipalities have collectively spent 1.35-billion-rand on consultants to prepare their financial statements, but only 34 received a clean bill of health. Ramaphosa says many of the challenges in municipalities arise from the design of the local government system:

And finally, Ramaphosa says this year, the government will proceed with the preparatory work for the establishment of National Health Insurance. The president said that NHI will provide quality healthcare for all. Ramaphosa says the first phase will form part of the preparatory work done by a ministerial advisory committee on NHI, to determine the necessary technologies and healthcare benefits for the full implementation of NHI:

# AfriForum has condemned the murder of a father and son who were tragically murdered at the Arlington landfill site in Gqeberha. AfriForum says this exposes the severe lack of security at municipal landfills, poor management and insufficient safety measures. The civil rights group is demanding accountability from municipal authorities and plans to meet national officials to address the crisis. It warns that ineffective landfill management endangers communities and fuels environmental pollution.

# Golf: Italian Filippo Celli fired an opening round six-under-par 66 to lead the Cape Town Open by a stroke at the Royal Cape Golf Club. South Africa’s Malcolm Mitchell and Spain’s Borja Virto are his nearest challengers. Meanwhile, South Africa’s Daniel van Tonder, the winner of the last two Sunshine Tour tournaments and looking for a hat-trick this week, is just three shots off the lead. Celli says he is happy at how he handled the gusty conditions:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-41-cents and the euro at 19-rand-12-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 97-thousand-655-dollar-40-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-866-dollars-13-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-44-cents a barrel.

# And in the last place: New data has indicated that last month was the warmest January on record. Figures released by the European Copernicus climate service show average temperatures around the world in January were 1.75 degrees Celsius warmer than before greenhouse gas emissions started to rise significantly in the industrial revolution around 150 years ago. That is 0.1 degree Celsius above the record set last January. A climate scientist at Imperial College London, Friederike Otto, warned the Los Angeles wildfires were a stark reminder that the world has already reached an incredibly dangerous level of warming.

Stay tuned for more news………….