News 13:00

BULLETIN 15 January 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA urges the SA Human Rights Commission to conclude the probe into SASSA
# A volcano erupts in Iceland and the flowing lava reaches a fishing town
# And, tennis: The Wimbledon champion loses to a qualifier in the first round of the Australian Open

# The DA says it has requested an update from the South African Human Rights Commission on its investigation into the persistent crisis surrounding the disbursement of social grants by the South African Social Security Agency. Last year, the party lodged a formal complaint with the commission following a series of payment failures which left vulnerable social grant recipients in distress. The DA’s, Bridget Masango, says the latest payment failure, which has left 150-thousand beneficiaries without their January payments, is disturbing:

# The Government Communication and Information System is set to launch a 13-episode Advertiser Funded Programme called Citizens Connect this week. This is a social reality programme featuring government content, re-enactments and discussions on matters relating to gender-based violence and femicide, anti-corruption and the government’s Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan. GCIS says the government is committed to reaching a diverse audience and delivering impactful content.

# The Gauteng MEC for Transport and Logistics, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, says her department will continue to conduct road safety operations to curb fatalities throughout this month and beyond in identified hotspots in the province. This is to reduce road carnage through road safety education, encouraging responsible road usage, and declaring zero tolerance for lawlessness and drunk driving. The Gauteng Public Transport Intervention Unit says it will continue to monitor and ensure compliance and visibility on provincial roads.

# A volcano has erupted in southwest Iceland with molten lava flows reaching the outskirts of a small fishing town, setting some houses alight. The town was evacuated earlier for the second time since November, due to fears an eruption was imminent amid heavier seismic activity. Reuters reports authorities say no people were in danger. Fountains of molten rock and smoke spewed from fissures in the ground across a wide area stretching to the town of Grindavik, where at least one house had caught fire, according to images provided by local media houses.

# Tennis: Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova’s Australian Open ended abruptly when she was beaten in straight sets by a qualifier in the first round in Melbourne. The seventh-seeded Czech player lost 1-6, 2-6 to Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine. US Open champion Coco Gauff had little trouble getting rid of Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia to go through to the second round. The fourth-seeded American won 6-3, 6-love. There were also victories for another Ukrainian, 19th-seeded Elina Svitolina, and 25th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-69-cents and the euro at 20-rand-46-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-78-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-610-dollars-65-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-54-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-10-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….