News 07:00

BULLETIN 24 January 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA calls for president Ramaphosa’s intervention amid a vaccine delay for avian influenza
# The EFF says the Department of Higher Education and NSFAS are not ready for the academic year
# And, the World Food Programme warns of an increasing risk of famine in the Gaza Strip

# The DA urges president Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene in the delays faced by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development in rolling out vaccines for avian influenza affecting the poultry industry. The party criticises the current cull-and-kill approach, stating it has failed to contain the outbreak, causing economic losses and animal welfare concerns. The DA’s Noko Masipa calls on the government to prioritise the livelihoods of poultry farmers and to ensure fair compensation, including food security:

# The EFF believes that the Department of Higher Education and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme are not adequately prepared to receive students for the 2024 academic year. NSFAS has received 1.5 million applications as of the 21st of this month. The scheme has provisionally funded 657-thousand-703 applications. The EFF met with minister Blade Nzimande yesterday. The party says of particular concern is the issue of the capacity to disburse student allowance, and the continuing impasse due to the irregular appointment of four service providers.

# The Judicial Conduct Tribunal has mandated the resumption of hearings against judge Nana Makhubele, with or without legal representation. The Judicial Conduct Committee investigates allegations of misconduct following a complaint by Unite Behind in 2019. The former chairperson of passenger rail agency PRASA is accused of chairing the board while being appointed as a North Gauteng High Court judge. She was also implicated by the State Capture Commission for allegedly using her influence to advance the interests of the corruption-linked company Siyaya at PRASA.

# The Commission of Inquiry into the Usindiso building fire has ruled that evidence presented by witnesses in the inquiry is inadmissible, and cannot be used against them by anybody investigating the fatal blaze. This comes as a man, identified as Mr X, voluntarily testified in-camera that he started the fire, which claimed the lives of 76 at the Usindiso Building in central Johannesburg last year. He says he started the fire on the ground floor of the building, after attempting to conceal a murder he had committed.

# The World Food Programme is warning that the population of the Gaza Strip faces an increasing risk of famine as the Israel-Hamas war continues. A study conducted between November 24th and December seventh last year found that all 2.2 million people in the Palestinian territory were in a crisis level of food insecurity. At least 25-thousand-490 people, mainly women and children, have been killed in Gaza, while Hamas killed one-thousand-300 people, mostly civilians in Israel. WFP’s Abeer Etefa outlines the current situation in Gaza:

# Cricket: Durban’s Super Giants picked up a bonus-point win when they beat MI Cape Town by 36 runs in their SA20 match at Newlands in Cape Town. Matthew Breetzke scored 48 as the visitors posted 157 for six. In reply, the home side was restricted to 121 for nine with Noor Ahmad and Marcus Stoinis taking three wickets each. This win moves the Super Giants to second place in the table, however, coach, Lance Klusener, says they still need to find a top batting performance:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-4-cents and the euro at 20-rand-68-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-17-cents and Bitcoin trades at 39-thousand-796-dollars-73-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-26-dollars-7-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 79-dollars-64-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….