News 09:00

BULLETIN 5 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Mashatile says the Land Expropriation Act will provide economic inclusivity and food security
# COPE slams Trump’s deliberate misinterpretation of the Land Expropriation Act
# And at least ten killed in the worst mass shooting in Sweden’s history

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile says the Land Expropriation Act will ensure that economic inclusion, food security, social cohesion, inclusive spatial patterns, and rural development, are achieved. This is as US president Donald Trump plans to cut all future funding to South Africa, citing the country’s land expropriation policies. Addressing the South African Local Government Association’s National Executive Committee Lekgotla in Cape Town on Tuesday, Mashatile emphasised the importance of land ownership:

The Congress of the People has meanwhile condemned what it says are the deliberate and misleading claims made by Trump regarding the Land Expropriation Act. Trump claimed that the government is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people very badly. COPE says while the Act intends to redress injustices of the past, Trump should not be allowed to make South Africa a colony of America. It adds that South Africa is a constitutional democracy committed to justice, equality and the rule of law.

# The DA in Gauteng is calling for criminal charges to be instituted against nine Department of Infrastructure officials. The officials have been fingered in the Anglo-Ashanti Hospital scandal. In 2022, the provincial government sanctioned the expenditure of 588-million-rand to upgrade the Anglo Gold Ashanti Hospital in the West Rand. However a year after the multimillion-rand refurbishment, the mining company cancelled the lease for the government to use the hospital. The DA’s Jack Bloom, says accountability is needed:

# A shooting at an education centre in the city of Örebro in central Sweden has claimed the lives of at least ten people including the suspected gunman. Six people were injured. Police say there is currently no information indicating that the shooter acted based on ideological motives. Sweden’s prime minister Ulf Kristersson described the attack as a terrible act of violence and the worst mass shooting in the country’s history. Student Andreas Sundling recounted the terror inside his classroom to Sky News:

# Tennis: Top-seed Carlos Alcaraz is through to the second round of the Rotterdam Open in the Netherlands. In his first match since the Australian Open, the Spaniard battled past Dutch wild card, Botic van de Zandschulp, 7-6, 3-6, 6-1. Last year’s runner-up Australia’s Alex de Minaur defeated Belgium’s David Goffin, 6-2, 6-4, while fourth seed Andrey Rublev of Russia advanced past China’s Zhang Zhizhen, 6-3, 6-4, for his first win over a top 50 opponent this year.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-69-cents and the euro at 19-rand-40-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-31-cents and Bitcoin trades at 98-thousand-151-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-861-dollars-2-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-62-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….