News 11:00

BULLETIN 1 November 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa appoints judge Margaret Victor to head the Special Tribunal
# Preliminary election results show voters have rejected Botswana’s long-serving governing party
# And cricket: Heinrich Klaasen is now the most expensive retained player in the Indian Premier League

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed judge Margaret Victor as president of the Special Tribunal with effect from today for three years. He has also appointed five additional judges to the tribunal. They are Thandi Victoria Norman, David Makhoba, Brian Mashile, Andre Henry Petersen, and Chantel Moira Jennifer Fortuin. The presidency says the Special Tribunal has a statutory mandate to recover public funds syphoned from the fiscus through corruption, fraud, and illicit money flows.

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse is calling for a thorough review of the electoral system due to structural biases that harm democracy. They argue that the current framework favours established political parties, leaving smaller parties and independent candidates at a disadvantage. The OUTA’s Rachel Fischer calls for reforms to provide fair access to resources and media coverage, which are vital for diverse political representation and rebuilding public trust in the government: 

# The EFF in Tshwane says municipal council oversight committees play a crucial role in monitoring and evaluating the actions of the executive to ensure accountability. The party has welcomed the election of three of its members as chairpersons of oversight committees in the metro. They are Municipal Public Accounts Oversight Committee, Godwin Ratikwane, Roads and Transport, Ngoako Seanego, and Social Development, Rebecca Monchusi. The EFF’s, Dumisani Baleni, says the oversight committees ensure openness, transparency, and the purposeful use of public funds:

# Preliminary election results show that Botswana’s governing party has suffered a shock defeat, losing its nearly six-decade grip on power of the diamond-rich country. President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Botswana Democratic Party, which has ruled since independence from Britain in 1966, has only won one parliamentary seat so far. Three opposition parties had together won 31 of 61 seats. More than one million people were registered to vote on Wednesday, from a population of 2.6 million. The Independent Electoral Commission is set to announce the official results later today.

# Cricket: South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen has become the most expensive player retained in the history of the Indian Premier League. Sunrisers Hyderabad have re-signed the wicketkeeper-batter for 48-million-rand for the 2025 season, alongside captain Australians Pat Cummins and Travis Head. Another South African, Faf du Plessis, has not been retained by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders have released their captain Shreyas Iyer. Klaasen says he is excited to continue playing for the Sunrisers:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-63-cents and the euro at 19-rand-17-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-80-dollars-5-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-752-dollars-8-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….