News 07:00

BULLETIN 6 February 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ACDP expresses concern over insufficient efforts to remove South Africa from the grey list
# Mango’s business rescue practitioner pushes ahead with the sale of the airline amid disputes with Pravin Gordhan
# And, ActionSA is planning further legal action over the Lily Mine tragedy

# The African Christian Democratic Party has expressed concern over South Africa’s status on the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list. The party argues insufficient efforts have been made to address the deficiencies that led to the country’s placement on the list a year ago. The ACDP’s Steve Swart notes South Africa’s two points drop on the Corruption Perception Index. He says despite increased resources, the country appears to be regressing in addressing corruption, raising worries about its trajectory:

# ActionSA says it remains resolute in its commitment to help retrieve the remains of the three Lily Mine workers in Mpumalanga and will continue to assist their families in any way possible. Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi, and Solomon Nyirenda died when the container they were working in was buried when the ground caved in, back in 2016. Yesterday marked eight years since the tragedy occurred. ActionSA leader, Herman Mashaba, says they will be announcing the next legal steps the party will be taking:

# Ekurhuleni mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana says he is fully aware of the fact that the 2022/2023 audit report has still not been tabled in council. The report is delayed as the municipality’s management has raised a dispute with the Officer of the Auditor General regarding the audit outcomes. The mayor says he understands that councillors might be finding it hard to remain patient at this pressing time, as the situation might be causing challenges in operating the municipality’s financials. He has emphasised that this matter is being dealt with as fast as possible.

# US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has embarked on his fifth trip to the Middle East since Hamas attacked Israel in October last year. The trip includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank. The State Department says one of Blinken’s main goals is to seek a deal between Hamas and Israel to release hostages in exchange for a pause in hostilities. This trip comes as the US has vowed further retaliation against militia groups in Iraq and Syria following the killing of three American soldiers in Jordan.

# Motorsport: Red Bull Formula One team has launched an independent investigation against team principal, Christian Horner, over allegations of inappropriate behaviour. This comes after a complaint was made against him by a staff member. Horner has denied the allegations. Red Bull says it takes these matters extremely seriously and the investigation will be completed as soon as practically possible. It is understood that Horner will remain as team principal, and in his dual position as chief executive of Red Bull Racing, while the probe is carried out.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-4-cents and the euro at 20-rand-47-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-728-dollars-70-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-25-dollars-23-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-18-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….