News 14:00

BULLETIN 24 February 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Solidarity secures a court order suspending the rollout of the National Health Insurance Act
# Zelensky marks the four-year anniversary of the war with Russia and vows to fight on
# And cricket: England and Pakistan face off in the T20 World Cup’s Super Eights today

# The High Court in Pretoria today ordered an immediate halt to the National Health Insurance Act’s implementation, following an application brought by civil rights and labour movement Solidarity. In welcoming the move, spokesperson Theuns du Buisson says the provisional suspension will remain in force until the Constitutional Court rules on the 2024 signing of the act:

Cosatu’s public service unions will also push to have the Government Employees Medical Scheme’s executives declared delinquent directors, as a punitive measure for alleged financial mismanagement. This follows GEMS imposing a 9.8-percent increase in member contributions. Cosatu’s spokesperson, Zanele Sabela, says the unions are embarking on provincial pickets at GEMS regional offices today, culminating in a national day of action at the scheme’s head office in Pretoria on Thursday:

# South Africa’s major banks are facing a legal challenge over how repossessed homes are sold. Homeowners argue when they fall behind on mortgage payments, banks often sell properties for prices close to the outstanding bond amount, rather than their true market value. The case, which began in February 2020, is being heard in the High Court in Johannesburg. The court is currently hearing arguments to decide if the case meets the legal requirements for class action certification.

Moving abroad:

# Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky vows he will not betray his people’s sacrifices in four years of war just to make peace with Russia. He says his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, has not achieved his goals and has not won the war. There are currently divisions among key European nations who had hoped to agree a fresh package of sanctions against Russia, as well as a 1.7-trillion-rand loan for Ukraine. However, Hungary, which maintains close ties with Moscow, had kept up its veto on both.

# Cricket: England and Pakistan face off in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, in a T20 World Cup Super Eight match today. Yesterday, the Windies obliterated Zimbabwe by 107 runs after posting 254 for six – this year’s highest score and the second highest in T20 World Cup history. Zimbabwe was then bowled out for 147. Tomorrow’s action sees hosts Sri Lanka doing battle with New Zealand in Colombo. On Thursday, the Proteas play the Windies in Ahmedabad, India, while India hosts Zimbabwe in Chennai.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-96-cents and the euro at 18-rand-81-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-55-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-275-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-174-dollars-58-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-20-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….