News 08:00

BULLETIN 4 February 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Institute of Race Relations warns the government is risking economic ties
# Cosatu is concerned about the distortion of the Expropriation Act
# And hockey: South Africa’s men’s team is off to a winning start at the World Cup

# The Institute of Race Relations says South Africa must not take lightly the negative attention it has drawn to itself from the world, the US in particular, as a result of the Expropriation Act. US president Donald Trump has threatened to cut all future funding to South Africa over its expropriation policies. The institute’s, Makone Maja, says misleading though it may have been, Trump’s statement indicates that the policy choices of government are being followed from across the Atlantic, and will likely have consequences:

# Cosatu says it is concerned about the massive distortion of the Expropriation Act. This comes after US president Donald Trump claimed that the South African government is confiscating land and certain classes of people were being treated very badly. Cosatu’s, Matthew Parks, says the Act is a necessary policy to address the inequalities in land ownership in the country:

# A panel has found the Anglican Church of South Africa failed to notify other congregations of child abuse allegations against former UK barrister John Smyth. The panel looked at whether the church recorded any complaints about Smyth, and if it failed to act on these. Smyth was accused of abusing young boys in the UK and Zimbabwe before living in South Africa. The panel also found that Smyth appears to have perpetrated clear grooming behaviour as part of the independent worshipping community he joined after St Martin-in-the-Fields Anglican Church in Durban.

# ActionSA Gauteng says it is not surprising that only 196 out of the three-thousand-921 spaza shop compliance applications from foreign nationals received approval from the provincial government. Finance and Economic Development MEC, Lebogang Maile, revealed that most of the rejected applications were due to incorrect, and in some cases, fraudulent documentation being submitted. ActionSA’s, Zwelithini Mtshali, says through its #Spaza4Locals campaign, it has long been demanding that spaza shops should be reserved for South Africans:

# Hockey: The South African men’s team got their FIH Indoor World Cup campaign off to a good start following an eight-six victory over hosts Croatia in Pool A in Poreč. Captain Dayaan Cassiem his brother Mustapha, who scored four, and Hans Neethling’s hat-trick secured an important opening day victory. Meanwhile, the South African women’s team was held to a four-all draw against Thailand in their opening game. South Africa, having successfully staged the showpiece event in 2023, finished sixth and fourth in the men’s and women’s divisions respectfully.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-71-cents and the euro at 19-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-25-cents and Bitcoin trades at 100-thousand-816-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-822-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….