News 11:00

BULLETIN 11 February 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A corruption index shows South Africa’s anti-corruption efforts remain stagnant
# The Public Servants Association is against the removal of medical aid tax credits
# And rugby: New Zealand is taking legal action against one of its sponsors

# Transparency International has released its 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, showing South Africa’s anti-corruption efforts have remained stagnant. With a score of 41, the same as last year, the country remains stubbornly below the global average of 43. The index assesses 180 countries and territories around the world, according to the levels of public sector corruption. Transparency International says with South Africa hosting the G20 leaders’ summit, it must strengthen oversight mechanisms, to ensure that corruption does not interfere with such crucial international processes.

# The Public Servants Association has expressed concern at the tax policy proposals under consideration by the National Treasury, particularly the potential removal of medical aid tax credits. The association’s Claude Naiker says these proposals, if implemented, could place an additional financial burden on workers who are already struggling with the inflated cost of living. He adds the removal of medical aid tax credits could result in many workers being unable to afford private medical aid:

# The GOOD Party is calling on the City of Cape Town to urgently call a meeting with the South African National Taxi Council to try and address safety concerns at taxi ranks. On Sunday evening, 13 taxis, four sprinter buses and a civilian vehicle were destroyed in a fire that ripped through the Nyanga taxi rank. GOOD’s Jonathan Cupido says while they welcome additional law enforcement presence in Nyanga, this is not enough to ensure long-term commuter safety:

# The Church of England’s elected governing body has started a week-long meeting, after an unprecedented crisis triggered by a number of sexual abuse scandals. The London meeting comes a month after Justin Welby stepped down as Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the world’s Anglicans, over the scandal. Sexual abuse allegations against a priest and a bishop have also emerged in recent months and embroiled Welby’s interim replacement in controversy.

# New Zealand Rugby is taking legal action against British chemicals giant Ineos, accusing the company of breaching its six-year sponsorship deal. The company, owned by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, allegedly abruptly walked away from its lucrative sponsorship agreement three years early, and failed to make its first payment this year. New Zealand Rugby says it has been left with no option but to launch legal proceedings to protect its commercial position. It adds it is actively pursuing new commercial opportunities.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-46-cents and the euro at 19-rand-2-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-79-cents and Bitcoin trades at 98-thousand-399-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-916-dollars-52-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-12-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….