News 13:00

BULLETIN 28 February 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA files an ethics complaint against minister Ntshavheni for blocking its MPs from their oversight duties
# Cabinet is on high alert as a disease outbreak hits KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape
# And tennis: Jannik Sinner’s Laureus award nomination is withdrawn after his doping ban

# The DA says it has submitted a complaint with Parliament’s Ethics committee against minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, for blocking its members of Parliament from conducting an oversight visit to the Directorate for Conventional Arms Control. The visit was necessitated in response to concerns raised in the joint standing committee on Defence of permit applications not being issued and other administrative failures in an industry worth billions. The DA’s Nicholas Gotsell says Ntshavheni telephonically instructed acting director, Peter Mashaba, to block their entry.

# Cabinet is monitoring an outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. The highly contagious viral infection, which spreads quickly among children, causes flu-like symptoms, painful blisters and swollen hands. Minister Ntshavheni reassured the public the disease is not fatal and is different from the animal-based foot and mouth disease:

# The GOOD Party in KwaZulu-Natal says the government needs to take its dual responsibility of proper land use planning and combatting the ever growing risks of climate change seriously. At least nine people have been killed in flooding in eThekwini’s Lamontville and Chatsworth, while nearly 300 homes have been damaged. GOOD’s Wendy Nare says they will continue to advocate for greater action to limit global warming, such as the party’s recent partnership with Fossil Free South Africa:

More eco news: The Cape Winelands District Municipality’s Fire Services says the wildfire line in the mountains above the Weltevrede farm continues to burn. Fire crews had their hands full overnight in efforts to contain flare-ups on this line. The municipality’s spokesperson, Jo-Anne Otto, says aerial resources were deployed, but this was ineffective in cooling the fire line sufficiently, as the wind direction changed and new flare-ups occurred:

# Tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner’s nomination for the Laureus sportsman of the year award has been withdrawn after he received a three-month doping ban. The three-time Grand Slam champion, who had two positive drug tests last year, will be out of action until May, having reached a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency. Laureus World Sports Academy chairperson, Sean Fitzpatrick, says while they note the extenuating circumstances involved in this case, they feel the ban renders Sinner’s nomination ineligible.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-46-cents and the euro at 19-rand-21-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-28-cents and Bitcoin trades at 79-thousand-245-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-861-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….