News 15:00

BULLETIN 15 February 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South African Defence Force soldiers are killed in a DRC mortar bomb attack 
# ANC delegation joins the Forum for the Freedom of Nations in Moscow 
# And Cricket: David Bedingham hopes his maiden Test century can lead the Proteas to victory

# Two South African Defence Force soldiers were killed by mortar fire in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, yesterday. Three others were injured when a mortar bomb struck inside their military base. These casualties are the first for South Africa since deploying two-thousand-900 soldiers in December. The troops, part of a regional force, were sent to combat M23 rebels.

# A delegation of senior ANC members, led by secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, will participate in the Forum for the Freedom of Nations in Moscow, Russia. The forum aims to combat the resurgence of colonialism. This visit follows several European trips as South Africa seeks to clarify its position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry highlights the forum’s role in initiating global discussions on pertinent issues. The forum will be officially launched at the end of March.

# ActionSA says the eleven parties to the Multi-Party Charter for South Africa have asked a variety of foreign ministers and other representatives of relevant organisations for their assistance in ensuring the results of the upcoming national and provincial elections accurately reflect the will of the people of South Africa. ActionSA’s Sam Mgobozi says these ministers and organisations are based in the east and the west, the global north and global south as well as the African continent:

# Cricket: David Bedingham scored his maiden Test century as the Proteas fought for victory against New Zealand. South Africa were bowled out for 235 in their second innings to set the Black Caps a victory target of 267 runs, which would be a record chase at Seddon Park in Hamilton. At stumps on day three, the home-side had 40 for one, needing another 227 runs to win. Bedingham hopes his hundred can lead the Proteas to victory:

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-1-cent and the euro at 20-rand-41-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 52-thousand-412-dollars-66-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-996-dollars-4-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-73-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The deputy chairperson of the National Council of Provinces apologised for saying load-shedding wasn’t the end of the world. ANC Member of Parliament Sylvia Lucas was heavily criticised for her comment during the debate on the state of the nation address. She said during a radio interview, she does understand the impact of load-shedding. She says she wanted to tell MPs electricity had become more accessible to South Africans after 1994, as it was a luxury to have power before then.

Stay tuned for more news………….