News 15:00

BULLETIN 26 February 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA demands lifestyle audits for Johannesburg officials after the Auditor General’s damning report
# Eastern Cape Health calls for calm amid a hand, foot and mouth outbreak
# And rugby: The All Black veteran Ma’a Nonu plays for Toulon at age 42

# The DA says the Auditor General’s report on Johannesburg must lead to real action, not just discussion. The party calls for lifestyle and skills audits on senior officials, arguing that mismanagement and corruption are crippling the city. It urges the national government to intervene, warning that Johannesburg’s resources are being misused while service delivery suffers. The DA’s Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku says audit findings must be taken seriously to ensure accountability and restore proper governance in the city:

# The Eastern Cape Department of Health is calling for calm amid the outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease. The province has recorded 13 cases so far, including four at educational centres in East London. The department’s spokesperson, Siyanda Manana, says the outbreak remains under control, and at the current moment there is no serious public health threat detected:

# Botswana has signed a long-awaited diamond sales agreement with De Beers, aiming to boost jobs amid economic struggles. President Duma Boko, who took office last October, prioritised the deal, which increases Botswana’s share of rough diamonds from the Debswana joint venture to 50-percent over the next decade. The agreement also extends Debswana’s mining license to 2054. Botswana hopes the deal will help revive its economy, which suffered from a downturn in the global diamond market last year.

# The United States says talks for a second phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal were on track, as Hamas said Israel agreed to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the bodies of four Israeli hostages. The ceasefire has largely halted the Israel-Hamas war sparked by the 7 October 2023 attack, and has seen 25 hostages released so far in exchange for hundreds of prisoners. But its complexity and long-drawn-out implementation have highlighted its fragility in a war that has shattered millions of lives on both sides of the conflict.

# Rugby: Veteran New Zealand centre Ma’a Nonu will play for French Top 14 club Toulon until the end of the season. The 42-year-old represented the team twice in the past. Nonu played 103 Tests for the All Blacks and was part of the team that clinched the World Cup in 2011 and 2015. He will fill in for Setariki Tuicuvu, Gabin Villiere and Antoine Frisch, who are all injured. Nonu is due to play against Lyon on Saturday. Toulon is currently second on the Top 14 log.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-40-cents and the euro at 19-rand-32-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-27-cents and Bitcoin trades at 89-thousand-195-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-913-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-45-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….