News 11:00

BULLETIN 19 February 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says South Africa will continue contributing to the global climate change effort
# A political analyst believes the DA is far from being elected to national government on its own
# And, the Israeli prime minister is defiant over a possible Rafah offensive

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says African leaders have long been advocating for urgent and practical climate action, given the continent’s extreme vulnerability to the effects of global warming. Climate change was discussed at the African Union Summit in Ethiopia. In his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa, says for its part, South Africa has established a Climate Change Response Fund that will bring together all spheres of government and the private sector. He says the country will continue to campaign against the implementation of climate and environment-based unilateral actions, policies and taxes.

# The failure of the DA to justify to voters that it deserves to be elected to national government on its own is an indictment of its leaders, members, and influential donors. This is according to political analyst, Mpumelelo Mkhabela. The party launched its election manifesto in Pretoria on Saturday. Leader John Steenhuisen believes that the possibility of the ANC falling below 50-percent, provides an opportunity for a DA-dominated-and-led coalition to take over. In an opinion piece for News24, Mkhabela, says the DA’s path to power hinges on coalition arrangements.

# The EFF in Gauteng says it rejects the Youth Employment Project by the provincial Department of Economic Development, describing it as a corrupt and fraudulent scheme. The department through the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller, embarked on an initiative intended to create over 75-thousand job opportunities over three years since 2016. The EFF’s, Naledi Chirwa-Mpungose, says despite being paid 59.7-million-rand between 2016 and 2019, Amahlo Consulting Services only helped 142 students:

# Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says those who were against a Rafah offensive were effectively telling the country to lose the war against Hamas. Countries including the US and the UK have warned Netanyahu against sending troops into Rafah, with particular concern about civilians who are sheltering there. Netanyahu says he rejects any scenario in which Hamas would be able to rebuild its military and governing capabilities:

# Motorsport: Formula One has urged Red Bull to resolve the investigation into team principal, Christian Horner, as soon as possible. Horner is being probed following an allegation of inappropriate behaviour being made against him by a colleague. The 50-year-old has strongly denied the allegations. F1 says it hopes the matter will be clarified at the earliest opportunity, after a fair and thorough process. Pre-season testing begins on Wednesday ahead of the opening race of the year in Bahrain on the second of next month.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-86-cents and the euro at 20-rand-34-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-81-cents and Bitcoin trades at 52-thousand-397-dollars-636-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-21-dollars-43-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-74-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….