News 11:00

BULLETIN 11 November 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Hlabisa urges parties to prioritise stability as the 14-day window to constitute municipal councils begins
# The ANC Youth League says the NEC must take accountability for the party’s electoral outcomes
# And soccer: Banyana Banyana’s coach selects a strong squad for the World Cup play-offs

# Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa is calling on political parties to prioritise stability and service delivery in coalition negotiations. The statutory 14-day window to constitute municipal councils officially begins today following the gazetting of the local government election results. There are 138 hung municipalities nationally. Hlabisa stresses negotiating parties must put community interests ahead of political ambitions to ensure councils are formed promptly and deliver essential services without delay.

Meanwhile, the ANC Youth League says the party’s National Executive Committee must take collective accountability for the poor performance in the elections. The ANC remains the largest party nationally, securing 30.76-percent of the vote, but its support has dropped by almost 15-percent since 2021. It held outright majorities in 161 municipalities in 2021, but this year it controls just 51. Youth League president Collen Malatji says South Africans want leadership that assumes accountability:

# Union federation COSATU calls for urgent and decisive action to address the worsening unemployment crisis. Statistics South Africa’s latest figures shows the expanded unemployment rate increased to 44-percent between July and September. COSATU’s Matthew Parks says job gains in sectors such as finance, manufacturing and mining are not enough to absorb new entrants into the labour market:

Moving abroad:

# The US House of Representatives voted to block an effort to impeach Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth. Republican congressman Thomas Massie had accused Hegseth of breaking the law for fighting a war in Iran for more than 90 days without lawmakers’ approval. The impeachment failed 211 to 204, with eleven Democrats missing the vote. Massie says he will not pursue another impeachment against Hegseth during his remaining time in Congress, but emphasises another resolution is needed to limit president Donald Trump’s war powers in Iran.

# Soccer: Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has picked a strong 23-player squad for the 2027 Women’s World Cup play-offs in Morocco. Denmark-based midfielder Sibulele Holweni has received her first call-up since moving to Europe last month. Captain Refiloe Jane will miss the opening game against Chinese Taipei to serve a one-match suspension. South Africa is one of six nations taking part in the preliminary round starting later this month. Ellis says selecting the squad was difficult:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-51-cents and the euro at 18-rand-42-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-2-cents and Bitcoin trades at 73-thousand-510-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-59-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 94-dollars-73-sents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….