News 17:00

BULLETIN 3 February 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# An analyst welcomes John Steenhuisen’s exit from the DA leadership race
# AfriForum accuses the SABC of ideological meddling in Afrikaans programming
# And soccer: Ukraine criticises FIFA boss for considering to lift the Russia ban

# Political analyst Sandile Swana says John Steenhuisen’s planned exit from the DA leadership race is a welcome development. Swana cited his long history of scandals and recent conflicts, including tensions with former Forestry’s minister, Dion George and Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille. Speaking to SABC News. He suggests a candidate like Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis could bring a fresh approach and stronger consensus-building skills to the party:

# AfriForum says the SABC must provide better service to Afrikaans-speaking audiences, who make up over 12-percent of South African households. The organisation has welcomed the return of Afrikaans TV news to its original 18:30 slot on SABC2 and the promise of more Afrikaans programmes. AfriForum’s Alana Bailey says the mismanagement damaged careers in the industry. Bailey calls for those responsible to be held accountable for the impact on viewers and revenue:

# Union GIWUSA has welcomed the latest fuel price decreases for this month, saying this will bring much-needed relief to citizens. The prices of both grades of petrol will drop by 65-cents per litre at midnight, while diesel prices will decrease by up to 57-cents per litre, effectively bringing prices to their lowest levels in four years. GIWUSA president Mametlwe Sebei says this relief is the direct result of a stronger rand.

#  French police raided the offices of Elon Musk’s social media network X and prosecutors ordered the tech billionaire to face questions in April. The Paris prosecutor’s office says the raid and Musk’s summoning are linked to a year-long investigation into suspected abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data extraction. The probe will also investigate alleged complicity in the detention and diffusion of images of a child‑pornographic nature and the violation of a person’s image rights with sexually explicit deepfakes, among other potential crimes.

# Soccer: Ukraine’s Sports minister, Matvii Bidnyi, has described FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s comments about lifting the ban on Russia as irresponsible and infantile. The ban was imposed by FIFA’s ruling executive along with European football’s governing body, UEFA, at the start of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Infantino told Sky News that the ban has not achieved anything; it has just created more frustration and hatred. Bidnyi says as long as Russians continue killing Ukrainians and politicising sport, their flag and national symbols have no place in sport.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-95-cents and the euro at 18-rand-82-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-82-cents and Bitcoin trades at 78-thousand-215-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-926-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-35-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….