News 11:00

BULLETIN 23 January 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The MK Party is calling on Trump to probe the Phala Phala scandal
# OUTA accuses the student financial aid scheme of monopolising student accommodation
# And France was the world’s most-visited country in 2024

# The MK Party wants US president Donald Trump to institute an investigation into how dollars ended up being stuffed under president Cyril Ramaphosa’s furniture at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo. A panel found in 2022 Ramaphosa may have committed misconduct. However, ANC members of Parliament, which had a majority in the National Assembly at the time, voted to reject the report, preventing the establishment of an impeachment committee. MK says it’s optimistic that Trump’s administration will usher in a new era of equitable global governance.

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse warns of a looming student accommodation crisis as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme owes 44-million-rand to providers. The Private Student Housing Association, housing 80-thousand students, has threatened to block returning students if payments are not made within two weeks. OUTA’s Rudie Heyneke blames the scheme’s mismanagement, including a flawed portal and delayed payments, for putting students and landlords at risk:

# The ANC alliance in KwaZulu-Natal, with SACP, Cosatu, and civic organisation SANCO, has pledged to focus on political development. They aim to train leaders with integrity and strong understanding to help develop the province and continue the national democratic revolution. SACP provincial secretary Themba Mthembu says the alliance is committed to nurturing cadres with strong analytical skills and a deep understanding of the political landscape to continue serving the people of the province:

# Soccer: The Premier Soccer League has suspended all fixtures involving Royal AM indefinitely. The KwaZulu-Natal-based club owned by controversial businesswoman Shauwn Mkhize, is under the SA Revenue Services’ curatorship due to a tax debt of over 40-million-rand. Royal AM, which has not played a match in the league since their three-one loss to TS Galaxy on December 29, has failed to pay players and staff salaries. The PSL says it will meet with Royal AM on Friday, to allow the club to make representations on the current situation.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-53-cents and the euro at 19-rand-27-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-80-cents and Bitcoin trades at 102-thousand-178-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-752-dollars-76-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-88-cents a barrel.

# And finally: About 1.4-billion people travelled internationally in 2024, which is 99-percent of the number who did the same in 2019, the last full year before Covid-19 hit. This is according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s 2024 year-in-review data. Europe was the most-visited continent with 747-million tourists last year. France was the world’s most-visited nation, with 100-million tourists, a result of the Olympic Games and the re-opening of Paris’ iconic Notre Dame cathedral. The organisation says 74-million people travelled to Africa, 12-percent more than in 2023.

Stay tuned for more news………….