News 14:00

BULLETIN 18 February 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ace Magashule’s former assistant will go on trial for asbestos corruption
# Justice still eludes the Ndlovu and Mdhluli families after 14 court postponements
# And cricket: An easy victory for the Proteas over the United Arab Emirates in Delhi

# The Free State High Court in Bloemfontein has ruled that former premier Ace Magashule’s former assistant, Moroadi Cholota, will stand trial. Her special plea to be exempted from the 255-million-rand asbestos roof removal corruption case was dismissed. Judge Phillip Loubser says the decision clears the way for proceedings against Cholota in connection with the high-profile corruption case, which has drawn significant attention in the province and nationwide:

Staying with the courts:

# One year after the brutal killing of journalist Aserie Ndlovu and his partner, Zodwa Mdhluli, in Mpumalanga, their families are still awaiting justice. Their remains were found in Limpopo in May after they disappeared in February. The case has been postponed 14 times at the KwaMhlanga Magistrates’ Court in Mpumalanga. Africa Media and Communications Forum’s Palesa Magolego says the delays deepen the families’ pain:

# The research firm Krutham says South Africa has stabilised its power system over three years, with private investment rising, load-shedding easing, and market reforms underway. The report outlines ten priority actions to turn policy into delivery, including Eskom’s unbundling, tariff reforms, and launching a competitive wholesale electricity market. Managing director Peter Montalto urges maintained momentum to ensure long-term reliability, attract investment, create jobs, and support economic growth while modernising the grid:

Moving abroad:

# Warner Brothers Discovery rejected Paramount Skydance’s latest hostile take-over bid of 479-rand-a-share, but gave the rival Hollywood studio seven days to submit a best and final offer. This is to top an existing agreement to sell its businesses, including HBO Max and the “Harry Potter” franchise, to Netflix. Paramount informally broached an even higher per-share price of 495-rand, apparently enticing the Warner Brothers board to the table. But its response to Paramount indicates Warner Brothers prefers its deal with Netflix, and the chances of a switch are fairly remote.

# Cricket: South Africa easily defeated the United Arab Emirates by six wickets in their T20 World Cup group match in Delhi. Dewald Brevis’ contributed 36 and the Proteas reached the under-par target of 123 within 14 overs. The UAE was earlier restricted to 122 for six, Alishan Sharafu top-scoring with 45. Corbin Bosch took three wickets and conceded just 16 runs in his four overs. Undefeated South Africa had already qualified for the Super Eights even before this match, and next faces co-hosts India in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-95-cents and the euro at 18-rand-89-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-66-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-984-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-920-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-27-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….