News 13:00

BULLETIN 18 February 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cape Town’s mayor urges minister Enoch Godongwana to allocate more affordable housing funding for cities
# The UK prime minister says a US backstop will deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again
# And cricket: The Proteas face Australia, England and Afghanistan in Group B in the Champions Trophy

# Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the national budget for 2025/26 must include president Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address promise to improve state subsidy funding. Finance minister Enoch Godongwana is set to deliver the budget tomorrow. Hill-Lewis says the metro has spent a minimum 99-percent of all grant-funding since 2020, to upgrade informal settlements and provide a measure of free housing to the poorest:

Meanwhile, the ACDP says Godongwana will need to balance expenditure and revenue in a low-growth environment, without the ability to significantly raise taxes or increase debt. The ACDP’s Steve Swart says there are severe risks facing government finances, the most important of which is a potential trade war with the United States:

# UK prime minister Keir Starmer says a US backstop is the only path to peace in Ukraine and to deter Russia from attacking its neighbour again. He was part of a meeting of European leaders in Paris. They discussed concerns over the Trump administration’s decision to initiate peace talks with Russia, taking place in Saudi Arabia today without Ukraine. Starmer says any peace deal for Ukraine must safeguard its sovereignty:

# Cricket: South Africa faces Australia, England and Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy, starting in Pakistan tomorrow. Group A consists of the hosts, India, New Zealand and Bangladesh. Each team plays every other country in its group once, earning two points for a victory and one when no result is possible. The top two teams in each group then qualify for the semifinals. The Proteas’ first match is against Afghanistan on Friday, and the final takes place on the ninth of next month.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-42-cents and the euro at 19-rand-27-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-23-cents and Bitcoin trades at 95-thousand-662-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-911-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-49-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Celebrity MasterChef South Africa winner, Seth Shezi, has donated 52-thousand-rand to Ladles of Love. This is a Cape Town-based non-profit organisation that provides nutritious and healthy foods to vulnerable children and poverty-stricken communities. Ladles of Love will use the funds to provide two nutritious meals per day for the whole year for 175 small children from two preschools in Delft and Fisantekraal. Shezi says winning MasterChef offered him the opportunity to tap into his humanitarian side, adding that giving back is deeply meaningful.

Stay tuned for more news………….