News 12:00

BULLETIN 19 February 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A prayer memorial walk will be held today to honour Joslin Smith a year after her disappearance
# The Gauteng Liquor Board suspends the Zanzou nightclub’s licence
# And rugby: The Wallabies will cap a demanding year with Tests against England, Italy, Ireland and France

# Community members in Diazville in Saldanha in the Western Cape are holding a prayer memorial walk today, to mark one year since Joslin Smith’s disappearance. She was six-years old when she went missing while in the care of her mother’s boyfriend. Her mother, Kelly Smith, her boyfriend Jacquin Appollis, and his friend, Steveno van Rhyn, face charges of kidnapping and child trafficking. The trio are set to return to the Western Cape High Court next Friday for a pre-trial hearing.

# The Gauteng Liquor Board has suspended the popular Zanzou nightclub in Pretoria’s operating licence with immediate effect. This follows videos depicting acts of ill-treatment, torture, and sexual assault of patrons at the establishment. Some of the victims have opened a criminal case, while police are searching for at least eight suspects. The board says these incidents have raised significant concerns regarding the safety and lawful operation of the premises. It adds that Zanzou’s licence will be suspended pending the conclusion of a formal inquiry.

# The Public Servants Association has strongly condemned the 2.9-percent increase granted by the Government Employees Pension Fund to pensioners for this year. The fund says the increase is based on the 2.9-percent inflation rate for the 12 months ending 30 November 2024. It also represents 100-percent of November’s year-on-year Consumer Price Index. PSA’s Claude Naiker says the increase is completely inadequate in the face of rising living costs:

# Rugby: Australia will face England, Italy, Ireland, and France, on their end-of-year northern hemisphere tour. Joe Schmidt’s side will begin with a return to Twickenham on November one to face England, before taking on Italy on the eighth, their first match-up in three years. They will then head to Dublin to face Ireland on the 15th before concluding with a Test against France on November 22nd. Rugby Australia CEO, Phil Waugh, says the Wallabies are looking forward to testing themselves against the best in the northern hemisphere.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-33-cents and the euro at 19-rand-17-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-13-cents and Bitcoin trades at 95-thousand-770-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-937-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-91-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The City of Tshwane’s Emergency Services says it is continuing to monitor the adverse weather conditions and urges communities to remain alert. The South African Weather Services issued a level 5 orange warning for disruptive rain over most parts of Gauteng. Emergency Services spokesperson, Lindsay Mnguni, says the inclement weather is expected to persist until later today:

Stay tuned for more news………….