News 13:00

BULLETIN 13 February 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF welcomes the return of the fallen SANDF soldier’s mortal remains
# President Cyril Ramaphosa signs the Plant Health Bill into law
# And cricket: Five players from champions MI Cape Town make the SA20 team for Season 3

# The EFF welcomes the return of the remains of the 14 South African National Defence Force soldiers, who died in combat in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The handing over ceremony of the remains to the family as well as the memorial service has been moved to this evening. This is to accommodate president Cyril Ramaphosa, who will reply to the state of the nation debate in Parliament today. The EFF says this delay is a blatant disrespect towards the bereaved families and is utterly unacceptable.

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa has signed the Plant Health Bill into law, repealing the 1983 Agricultural Pests Act. The legislation sets out measures to combat plant pests threatening agriculture, food security, and exports. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says the legislation also brings South Africa into compliance with the World Trade Organisation Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, as well as the International Plant Protection Convention:

# The Universal Healthcare Access Coalition has proposed mandatory medical scheme coverage for higher-income groups as part of its plan to reform the healthcare system. The coalition, which includes healthcare professionals and advocacy groups, says its proposal will improve affordability and accessibility while maintaining a competitive private sector. The coalition’s Alex van Den Heever, argues the National Health Insurance model is unworkable and financially unsustainable:

# The South African Police Service has commenced with the training of three-thousand-359 trainees at various academies. A second group of successful candidates will be notified in writing to report for training. Police spokesperson Amanda van Wyk says the remaining two-thousand-186 trainees will commence training before the end of this month:

# Cricket: Five players from champions MI Cape Town were named in the SA20 team of Season 3, captained by Aiden Markram of Sunrisers Eastern Cape. The Cape Town players are Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, George Linde, Kagiso Rabada and Trent Boult. Paarl Royals is represented by Lhuan-dré Pretorius, David Miller and Joe Root. The rest of the team consists of the player of the tournament, Marco Jansen, and his Sunrisers teammate, Richard Gleeson. Joburg Super Kings’ Donovan Ferreira is the twelfth man.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-50-cents and the euro at 19-rand-27-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-9-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-156-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-913-dollars-5-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-48-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….