News 17:00

BULLETIN 18 January 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA urges the SAHRC to act on a complaint against the hapless minister Lindiwe Zulu
# The Freedom Front Plus says mother-tongue education is the solution to the Free State failure rate
# And mixed martial arts: A massive UFC championship fight awaits South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis 

# The DA urges the South African Human Rights Commission to take swift action in response to their complaint, filed four months ago, regarding ongoing issues with the South African Social Security Agency’s social grant disbursements. The party claims despite assurances of a forthcoming investigation, there has been no feedback from the commission. SASSA faces criticism for failing to pay out this month’s social grants. The DA’s Dan Plato calls for the replacement of Social Development minister Lindiwe Zulu, citing incompetence and neglect of duty:

# The Freedom Front Plus in the Free State says it is convinced that mother-tongue education is the key to addressing the province’s high failure rate. Last year, almost 40-percent of Grade tens and 26-percent of Grade eights in the province did not pass their exams. The party’s Armand Cloete says having the best matric pass rate in the country means nothing if four out of every ten Grade ten learners in the province failed in the same year:

# The General Council of the Bar and Advocates for Transformation are challenging a government tender allegedly restricting young black advocates from representing the state. News24 reports the tender limits points for historically disadvantaged people to lawyers born before 1993. The organisations argue these hampers transformation efforts in the legal profession. They contend the tender is unlawful and conflicts with constitutional and empowerment laws. Solicitor-general Fhedzisani Pandelani pledged not to release the tender outcome until 18 July. A court hearing is scheduled in April to review its legality and rationality.

# Mix martial arts: A massive showdown is expected for South African fighter Dricus du Plessis this weekend. He will face Sean Strickland for the UFC middleweight championship in Toronto, Canada, at 5 AM on Sunday, South African time. It is Du Plessis’s first title fight in the UFC and he is facing the very dangerous American, who is the defending champion. Du Plessis says it is the culmination of 15 years of hard work and sacrifice:  

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-95-cents and the euro at 20-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-4-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-374-dollars-41-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-9-dollars-98-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-59-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The South African Weather Service has issued extremely high fire danger warnings for parts of the Western Cape and Northern Cape, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. The extremely high temperatures and humid conditions are expected to persist into tomorrow, affecting parts of the Namakwa District. The impact-based warnings also include a yellow level two alert for disruptive rainfall and potential flooding in Limpopo, and a yellow level one warning for waves affecting sea navigation along the West Coast, between Cape Columbine and Cape Point.

Stay tuned for more news………….