News 13:00

BULLETIN 3 December 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa is pleased with the milestones reached at Cop28 in Dubai
# Golf: Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa defends her women’s Australian Open title successfully
# And, the Shosholoza Meyl train service between Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town is back on the tracks

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has successfully concluded his official visit to Dubai, where he attended the COP28 summit. Expressing satisfaction with the engagements, Ramaphosa highlighted the activation of the 5.1-billion-rand loss and damage fund as a significant achievement. He also called on more countries to join efforts in mitigating the effects of climate change in developing economies. Additionally, Ramaphosa presented South Africa’s Implementation Plan of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. 

Earlier, over 20 countries called for the tripling of world nuclear energy capacity as part of efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The declaration at COP28 highlighted nuclear energy’s crucial role in reaching carbon neutrality. US climate envoy John Kerry noted the controversy surrounding nuclear energy due to concerns about the safety of nuclear waste disposal.  The US, Ghana, Japan, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, France, Hungary, South Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Ukraine are all supporting the initiative.

# ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba launched the 2024 election campaign in Hammanskraal, at the Ga-Ramotse soccer field, Pretoria. ActionSA, contesting its first national elections, focuses on private sector involvement in economic development. Addressing supporters, Mashaba emphasised, a tough stance on crime and restoring the rule of law. He called for stringent measures against criminals, including murderers, rapists, and drug syndicates. Mashaba says that the party aims to address key issues to build a safer and economically vibrant South Africa:

# Golf: Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa overcame late nerves to hold off charging fellow major winner Minjee Lee for a one-shot win to defend her women’s Australian Open title. The 35-year-old carded a three-over-par 75 to end at nine-under for the tournament, a stroke ahead of Lee, whose 69 ensured a tense finale. Chilean golf star Joaquin Niemann kept his cool to win his first men’s Australian Open at the second playoff hole.

# And finally: The Shosholoza Meyl train has resumed services this festive season, offering trips from Johannesburg to Durban and Cape Town for less than one-thousand-rand. Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda confirmed that the Mainline Passenger Services division has resumed operations after a two-year pause, due to operational and network infrastructure challenges. In addition, Makanda mentioned that Shosholoza Meyl will provide an affordable private car transportation service at an additional cost, for passengers traveling to Durban, allowing those who wish to transport their vehicles, too, to do so:

Stay tuned for more news………….