News 07:00

BULLETIN 9 January 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Fikile Mbalula says the ANC needs to work hard to regain trust
# The DA in KwaZulu-Natal questions the withdrawal of the NFP
# And, the Venezuelan Presidential Guard chief is sacked after Maduro’s capture

# ANC Secretary General, Fikile Mbalula, says the 2024 national and provincial election outcomes plunged the party into uncharted waters, which required serious introspection. The ANC suffered a bruising 2024 general election in which it lost its outright majority in Parliament for the first time since the advent of democracy. Addressing the ANC Women’s League sacred gathering of uManyano in the North West yesterday, Mbalula said the party has a mammoth task to reclaim the confidence of voters:

# The Universal Basic Income Coalition is warning that the government’s proposals to link the grant to employment-related conditions could exclude eligible beneficiaries. In the medium-term budget policy statement tabled in November, Finance minister Enoch Godongwana said the social relief of the distress grant would be extended, while proposals are finalised to link the working-age population to skills development and employment programmes. The Universal Basic Income Coalition says the lack of clear information is fuelling anxiety among the millions of people who rely on the SRD grant.

# The DA in KwaZulu-Natal has questioned the motive behind the National Freedom Party’s decision to withdraw from the government of provincial unity. This move changes the balance of forces in the 80-seat legislature, leaving the ruling coalition with 40 seats to govern with. The DA’s provincial leader, Francois Rodgers, says it is regrettable that NFP is forcing its representative, Mbali Shinga, to be removed from the legislature, and as the MEC for Social Development:

# Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, has dismissed the commander of the presidential honour guard, Javier Marcano Tábata, days after US forces captured president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The presidential guard, responsible for protecting the head of state, reportedly suffered casualties during the US raid. Rodríguez, sworn in by the National Assembly, denounced Maduro’s seizure as an illegal kidnapping. Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump threatened that Rodríguez would face a fate worse than Maduro’s if she did not comply with demands.

# Tennis: China’s Olympic champion, Zheng Qinwen, has withdrawn from the Australian Open, saying she isn’t fully fit yet after undergoing elbow surgery last year. The problem kept her on the sidelines since Wimbledon, and she only returned in September when she had to withdraw in the third round of the Chinese Open. Zheng, who lost to world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final of 2024’s Australian Open, says playing a Grand Slam tournament requires maintaining an extreme competitive condition, which she hadn’t reached yet.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-53-cents and the euro at 19-rand-26-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-20-cents and Bitcoin trades at 90-thousand-791-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-456-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-1-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….