News 15:00

BULLETIN 20 February 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Missing miners are presumed dead after a mudslide at the Ekapa Mine
# Shadrack Sibiya concedes political killings task team investigator changes could be a disruption
# And soccer: A great start for Nottingham Forest’s new manager in the Europa League

# Mineral and Petroleum Resources minister Gwede Mantashe says the five miners trapped after a mudslide at the Ekapa Mine in Kimberley in the Northern Cape since earlier this week, are presumed dead. Recovery efforts are ongoing but expected to take longer due to water and drilling challenges. Mantashe will address the families, describing the incident as a potential disaster. He adds last year saw a record of 41 deaths in the mining industry:

# Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has been questioned before the Madlanga commission over alleged political interference following the reassignment of eight political killings task team members. He conceded replacing investigators on complex dockets would require time for new detectives to familiarise themselves with case details. Sibiya acknowledged such changes could be disruptive to investigations, but maintained reassignments are standard practice due to transfers within the service:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate impacts. He spoke before the Presidential Climate Commission’s special session, urging a just transition to a low-carbon economy, building resilience, strengthening competitiveness, and reducing poverty, inequality, and unemployment. Ramaphosa called on the commission to provide independent, multi-stakeholder advice, guiding the country through complex climate policy challenges:

# Ukraine could export tens of billion of rand’s worth of military goods and services this year after authorising its first wartime foreign sales. Davyd Aloian of the National Security and Defence Council told Reuters they approved the majority of 40 applications from defence sector producers for exports of military hardware and services. Ukraine halted weapons exports following Russia’s invasion of February 2022, and poured resources into developing its armaments industry. It has in recent years experienced a defence technology boom, leveraging its vast battlefield experience.

# Soccer: Nottingham Forest’s new manager, Vitor Pereira, says he had encouraged his players to express themselves, leading to them beating Fenerbahce 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League play-offs. This marked a dream start for Pereira after becoming Forest’s fourth coach this season when agreeing an 18-month deal to replace sacked Sean Dyche on Sunday. He made an instant impact as the struggling Premier League team recorded an impressive victory in Istanbul thanks to goals from Murillo, Igor Jesus and Morgan Gibbs-White.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-12-cents and the euro at 18-rand-96-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-70-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-816-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-and-30-dollars-66-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….