News 18:00

BULLETIN 9 January 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Gayton McKenzie backs the calls for the Proteas to boycott the Afghanistan match
# The ANCYL president engages with the former EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi
# And Hockey: The governing body in England bans transgender players from women’s hockey

# Sport, Arts and Culture minister, Gayton McKenzie, supports calls for the Proteas to boycott their ICC Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan next month. He cited moral concerns over the Taliban government’s ban on women’s sports and the disbanding of Afghanistan’s female cricket team in 2021. The minister’s spokesperson Stacey-Lee Khojane, reflecting on South Africa’s apartheid history, says it would be hypocritical to ignore such discrimination against women globally.

# ANC Youth League president Collen Malatji has revealed he has been in contact with former EFF member of parliament, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, following his resignation from Parliament. Ndlozi remains an ordinary member of the Orange Farm EFF branch. Speaking at the Progressive Business Forum Presidential Golf Day in Cape Town, Malatji did not disclose details of their discussions:

# The South African Human Rights Commission has launched an investigation into an alleged racist incident on a FlySafair flight from Durban to Cape Town. This after on 26 December an alleged intoxicated passenger became aggressive, using racist slurs and attacking flight attendants after being denied more alcohol. Commissioner Tshepo Madlingozi says a criminal complaint has been filed and encourages passengers with relevant information to come forward:

# Hockey: The governing body in England says transgender players will be banned from competing in women’s hockey from 1 September when the new season starts. England Hockey issued a statement saying this is done to protect fair competition. It follows action taken by several governing bodies in other sports including the Lawn Tennis Association, the LPGA Golf Tour, and the England and Wales Cricket Board in restricting the participation of transgender athletes in female categories. Athletics, cycling and swimming have introduced policies along similar lines.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-83-cents and the euro at 19-rand-42-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-17-cents and Bitcoin trades at 92-thousand-435-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-670-dollars-35-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-19-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The mayor of a small town in southern Italy has issued an unusual proclamation. Residents of Belcastro in the southern region of Calabria have been ordered to avoid contracting any illness that requires medical assistance, especially an emergency. Mayor Antonio Torchia says the decree is a cry for help, intended to highlight the town’s inadequate access to healthcare. Belcastro has a population of about one-thousand-300 people of whom half are elderly. It has no on-call doctors available on weekends, holidays or after hours, with the nearest emergency room 45 kilometres away.

Stay tuned for more news………….