News 07:00

BULLETIN 18 February 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The International Monetary Fund says South Africa must ease its debt burden
# AfriForum criticises the decline of police reservists
# And top US and Russian diplomats meet for talks about Ukraine

# The International Monetary Fund says South Africa’s persistently weak growth, high average interest rate, and large fiscal deficits, have contributed to the rapid rise in public debt. This is as Finance minister Enoch Godongwana is set to deliver his budget speech on Wednesday. The country’s latest debt to gross domestic product is projected to peak at 75.5-percent in 2025/2026. IMF’s, Tidiane Kinda, told Bloomberg that the government must take bold steps to ease the debt burden including enforcing wage discipline and accelerating reforms at struggling state-owned enterprises.

# AfriForum has raised concerns over the decline of the police’s reservist programme, which has shrunk by 90-percent in the past decade. Meanwhile, AfriForum’s 177 neighbourhood watches have grown by 15-percent in two years. AfriForum’s Jacques Broodryk, says despite the police’s plans to recruit 30-thousand officers by 2026, it struggles to maintain reservists. He demands transparency, calling for urgent action to restore community policing support:

# The Gauteng Department of Education has precautionarily removed a 45-year-old educator from Lufhereng Secondary School in Soweto. He is accused of allegedly raping a Grade 11 girl learner at his house last week Thursday. A police case has been opened against the educator. The department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, says the decision to remove the educator has been taken to prioritise the safety and well-being of the affected learner, and the broader school community:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit to probe allegations of maladministration in eThekwini Municipality’s Water and Sanitation Department. The investigation will specifically focus on services provided to human settlements and schools within the municipal boundaries between January 2015 and February 14, 2025. The SIU says the probe will determine if contract payments adhered to National Treasury guidelines, were irregular, wasteful, or led to financial losses for the department or state.

# Top US and Russian diplomats will meet in Saudi Arabia today for talks aimed at ending the Ukraine war. It will be the first meeting between senior representatives of both countries since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. US President Donald Trump is pushing for a swift resolution to the three-year conflict, though has not yet outlined a plan to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv did not know anything about the talks in Riyadh.

# Cycling: 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas plans to retire at the end of the season. The 38-year-old Welshman also won Olympic gold in team pursuit in 2008 and 2012, as well as three world titles. Thomas will tackle the Tour again this year in a supporting role for his British team, INEOS (ie-nie-JOS). He then plans to participate in the Tour of Britain in September before calling it quits. Thomas says after his retirement, he wants to participate in Strictly Come Dancing.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-48-cents and the euro at 19-rand-32-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-31-dollar-40-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-896-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-12-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….