News 16:00

BULLETIN 25 January 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Human Rights Commission declares the water shortages in eThekwini as human rights violations
# Freedom Park says Madiba’s image should be treated as a national heritage 
# And rugby: The Blitzboks are well prepared to bounce back in Perth

# The South African Human Rights Commission has declared water shortages in eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal as human rights violations. This follows protests in Verulam and Phoenix. Residents cite aging infrastructure, insufficient budgeting and a lack of transparency from the municipality as contributors to the water problems. The commission says while some issues can be addressed in the short term, long-term planning is essential to solve the problems. The municipality and uMngeni-uThukela Water will now meet twice a week with the commission until a resolution is achieved.

# Freedom Park in Pretoria advocates for former president Nelson Mandela to be regarded as a part of the national heritage. This follows some Mandela family members’ call for an auction of his belongings, including his identity document, shirts and walking stick, in February. Mandela’s daughter, Makaziwe, says the auction proceeds will fund a memorial garden in the Eastern Cape. But Freedom Park’s Bheki Langa told eNCA Madiba’s image belongs to the people:

# World Health Organisation’s director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus reiterates calls for countries to sign the organisation’s pandemic treaty to address the potential threat of Disease X. This is an unknown infectious disease capable of causing a severe epidemic or pandemic. The treaty, first proposed in March 2021 with a draft released in October last year, aims to foster a global approach to strengthening capacities and resilience against future pandemics. Ghebreyesus highlights Covid-19 as the first Disease X, emphasising the need for collective action to combat such threats.

# Rugby: The Blitzboks will look to bounce back at the Perth Sevens in Australia this weekend, after a disappointing performance in Cape Town, where they finished in sixth place. The Springbok Sevens men face Spain and Canada in their group matches tomorrow and will meet series leader, Argentina, on Saturday morning. Blitzbok captain Selvyn Davids says they are well prepared:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-92-cents and the euro at 20-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-7-cents and Bitcoin trades at 40-thousand-and-22-dollars-21-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-14-dollars-32-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-81-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Saudi Arabia plans to open a shop in Riyadh selling alcohol to a select band of non-Muslim expats. It will be the first such outlet in more than 70 years. The clientèle will be limited to diplomatic staff, who have for years imported liquor in sealed official packages known as diplomatic pouches. Saudi officials say the shop will counter the illicit trade of alcohol. According to the BBC, prohibition has been law since 1952, after one of King Abdulaziz’s sons drunkenly shot dead a British diplomat.

Stay tuned for more news………….