News 13:00

BULLETIN 21 February 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA is disappointed as the High Court dismisses its cadre deployment case
# The Western Cape High Court dismisses John Hlope’s application for an interdict against Parliament
# And Soccer: Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS complete a deal to buy a minority stake in Manchester United 

# The Democratic Alliance expressed disappointment after the High Court in Pretoria dismissed their case to declare ANC cadre deployment as illegal and unconstitutional. DA leader John Steenhuisen emphasised that the policy has facilitated state capture, corruption, and poor service delivery. He says his party will appeal the judgment:

# The Western Cape High Court has dismissed Judge President John Hlophe’s urgent application for an interdict to stop Parliament from holding an impeachment vote against him. He was challenging the process Parliament has followed and wants it to halt the vote until the Constitutional Court has reviewed its procedures. Judge Sulet Potterill struck Hlophe’s urgent application from the court roll. The vote will now go ahead in Parliament to remove him as a judge.

# There was bad news about South Africa’s inflation rate before this afternoon’s budget speech. After two consecutive months of decline, annual consumer inflation crept up in January, rising to 5.3-percent from 5.1-percent in December. The categories in the inflation basket with the largest annual price increases were restaurants and hotels at eight-percent, food and non-alcoholic beverages at 7.2-percent, and health at 6.5-percent. The good news is that annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages was lower in January compared to December and November.

# Soccer: Manchester United has confirmed that British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS company’s deal to buy a 27.7-percent stake in the club has been completed. This follows approval from the Premier League and the Football Association. Ratcliffe says this marks the completion of the transaction, but just the beginning of the journey to take United back to the top of English, European and world football, with world-class facilities for fans. The Glazer family still retain a majority stake in the club.

# And finally: The University of South Africa will be celebrating International Mother Language Day at its Muckleneuk campus in Pretoria today, under the theme, Multilingual education: a pillar of learning and inter-generational learning. International Mother Language Day is observed every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. Unisa’s, doctor Napjadi Letsoalo, says the key item on the programme is the private screening of a 30-minute documentary titled Language of my Soul, which is about the N|uu language, starring Ouma Katrina Esau:

Stay tuned for more news………….