News 14:00

BULLETIN 4 November 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa hails the voter turnout
# Verster will act as Athletics South Africa’s acting president until the 28th of this month
# And nine new millionaires emerge from Friday’s PowerBall jackpot win

# ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa says he is encouraged by South Africans turning out in large numbers to vote in the local government elections. He was speaking after voting in Hyde Park, Johannesburg. Ramaphosa describes the turnout as a historic moment. He acknowledges challenges facing municipalities, but expresses confidence in improved service delivery under newly elected councillors. Ramaphosa urges all registered voters to cast their ballots and help shape the country’s future:

Meanwhile, the Electricity for All Campaign is calling on election candidates to sign a pledge to deliver 350 kilowatt-hours of free basic electricity to make electricity more affordable. Spokesperson Ferron Pedro says government introduced free basic electricity in 2003 as a social safety net, but the allocation has remained at just 50 kilowatt-hours per household per month since 2006. She says access to electricity remains unaffordable, unreliable and increasingly out of reach for millions of working-class households:

Moving abroad:

# Canadian prime minister Mark Carney says progress has been made in reaching a trade deal with the US, but more work is needed. Both countries have hiked tariffs on over 331-billion-rand of each other’s exports after trade talks collapsed in August. The US has banned imports of certain Canadian items like motorcycles, dairy products and alcohol. Carney says Canada wants a mutually beneficial trade deal that will create jobs, boost affordability and respect its sovereignty:

# Athletics: Renowned coach and administrator Jean Verster will be Athletics South Africa’s acting president until a council meeting on the 28th of this month. This follows the firing of James Moloi after an independent disciplinary inquiry linked to serious financial misconduct and misuse of a corporate credit card. South Africa’s designated representative at World Athletics, Zakhele Dlamini, instructed ASA’s board to appoint an acting president. This is part of ongoing efforts to address internal governance challenges and advance compliance with World Athletics’ governance directives.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-44-cents and the euro at 18-rand-51-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 78-thousand-377-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-45-dollars-61-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 105-dollars-80-sents a barrel.

# And finally: The National Lottery says nine lucky players from across South Africa won over 2.8-million-rand each in Friday’s PowerBall cascading jackpot. Winning tickets were purchased in places such as Makhanda, Mthatha, George, and Alberton. This follows September’s creation of 15 millionaires in one night. The Lottery says smaller prizes can be claimed immediately at retail stores, while larger winnings are paid within 72 hours via online banking or EFT transfers from approved channels.

Stay tuned for more news………….