News 16:00

BULLETIN 22 January 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA condemns the minister of Police’s admission that SAPS is ill-equipped to fight gangs
# The UK holds off joining Trump’s Board of Peace over Putin concerns
# And cricket: Brook retains England’s white-ball captaincy despite a night club altercation in New Zealand

# The DA condemns police minister Firoz Cachalia’s admission that SAPS is not equipped to tackle gang violence and extortion in the Western and Eastern Cape. The DA’s Lisa Schickerling says communities are being terrorised, children caught in crossfire, and businesses extorted, while underfunded units and weak intelligence hamper crime-fighting. She says the party demands expanded anti-gang units, intelligence-driven operations, witness protection, and inter-provincial coordination to dismantle organised crime:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Advocate Dinkie Portia Dube as the new deputy Public Protector for a term of seven years. The appointment is effective from 1 February. She is currently the director general at the Public Service Commission. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says Dube has more than 20-years of experience in the public sector with expertise in oversight, complaints management, and investigation:

# Agricultural body TLU SA welcomes the appointment of its general manager, Bennie van Zyl, to the newly established Foot-and-Mouth Disease Industry Coordinating Council, announced by minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen. Van Zyl will provide industry input on vaccine distribution, traceability, movement control, and operational readiness. He says the appointment recognises farmers’ practical realities and stresses the need for transparent communication, workable regulations, and cooperative solutions to manage FMD effectively.

Moving abroad:

# UK’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says the country will not yet sign up to US president Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace for Gaza over concerns about Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s possible participation. She told the BBC the UK had been invited to join, but won’t be one of the signatories at today’s ceremony at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Cooper describes the board as a legal treaty that raises much broader issues than the initial focus on ending the war between Israel and Hamas.

# Cricket: Harry Brook realises he’s lucky to have retained England’s white-ball captaincy after an altercation in a New Zealand nightclub a few months ago. He apologised for the incident, saying he embarrassed himself and the team. Brook says he would have accepted if he was fired as captain, but is just happy he can still play for his country. England is currently in Sri Lanka for three one-day matches and three T20s before the start of the T20 World Cup in that country and India on 7 February.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-21-cents and the euro at 18-rand-98-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 89-thousand-893-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-830-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-75-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….