News 17:00

BULLETIN 27 January 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Defence refutes claims of under-equipped troops in the DRC
# Cricket: Teams that are on the top and at the bottom of the SA20 log face off in Paarl
# And the world marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp

# The chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on Defence and Military Veterans, Dakota Legoete, has refuted claims that South African troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo lack resources. This follows the loss of nine soldiers in Goma. Legoete has deemed opposition calls to recall peacekeepers premature and praised their sacrifices. He highlights the mission’s role in regional stability:

# In commemoration of National Police Day, the Public Servants Association has called for improved and dignified facilities at police stations, especially for handling trauma and sexual assault cases. The PSA urges police stations be staffed with competent employees who can manage these cases with dignity and confidentiality. They also call for more vehicles to ensure faster responses to crime. The association’s Claude Naiker says police members deserve better facilities to serve and protect the public effectively.

# The ANC’s Local Government Commission has proposed ring-fencing water revenue to address failing municipal infrastructure. The plan includes tackling governance, financial liabilities, and service delivery challenges. NEC member Zuko Godlimpi highlighted the ongoing water crisis, leaving many residents without access. The commission aims to ensure sustainable solutions for water management and improve service delivery in struggling municipalities:

# Cricket: The teams at the top and the bottom of the SA20 log will face off in Paarl today. Paarl Royals have already qualified for the playoffs after winning six of their seven previous games. Last year’s finalist, Durban’s Super Giants, are languishing in sixth position after only winning a single match. They lost five while two didn’t yield a result. MI Cape Town is currently second on the log, followed by defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Joburg Super Kings and Pretoria Capitals. The top-four teams advance.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-67-cents and the euro at 19-rand-63-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-35-cents and Bitcoin trades at 101-thousand-119-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-762-dollars-95-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-1-cent a barrel.

# And finally: The world marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in Poland today, with some of the few remaining survivors attending ceremonies at the site of the notorious Nazi death camp. Auschwitz was the largest of the extermination camps and has become a symbol of Nazi Germany’s genocide of six-million European Jews. One-million of them died at the site between 1940 and ’45, along with more than 100-thousand non-Jews. Polish president Andrzej Duda laid flowers at the site alongside survivors.

Stay tuned for more news………….