News 11:00

BULLETIN 5 November 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# DA Abroad’s battle for citizenship rights heads to the Constitutional Court today
# Minister Mzamo Buthelezi is concerned about the money spent on suspended public servants
# And Kamala Harris says her campaign has been about the fight for American democracy

# The DA Abroad‘s long-standing campaign to retain South African citizenship for citizens living overseas culminates in the Constitutional Court today. This follows a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling stating that those who lost their citizenship after acquiring another nationality should still be recognised as citizens. The DA’s Ludré Stevens urges the court to ratify this decision, advocating for the automatic and cost-free restoration of citizenship for nearly two-million affected South Africans.

# Minister of Public Service and Administration Mzamo Buthelezi has expressed concern about the money spent on salaries of suspended public servants. In a written reply to a parliamentary question, the minister revealed that the cumulative cost of precautionary suspensions for the first two quarters of this financial year was about 49-million-rand for national departments and 93.4-million-rand for provincial departments. Buthelezi says his department is now clamping down on the use of precautionary suspensions for disciplinary purposes to reduce the cost to the state. 

# Four suspects wanted for taxi industry-related murders were killed in a high-speed vehicle shootout with police in Mooi River, KwaZulu-Natal. Police spokesperson, Robert Netshiunda, says they intercepted the suspects’ vehicle on the N3 Highway and signalled for the driver to stop, but he sped off towards Estcourt, resulting in a shootout. He says two firearms, a rifle and pistol, as well as ammunition were found in the vehicle:

# US vice president Kamala Harris says she is ready to offer a new generation of leadership in America. The Democratic presidential candidate gave her final remarks at a rally in Pennsylvania. Millions of Americans are set to cast their votes for the country’s next president today. Harris and former president Donald Trump will need at least 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. Harris says her campaign has been about the fight for American democracy:

# Soccer: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes their Premier League title defence will be a struggle this season, given the mounting injury list. City face Sporting Lisbon in Portugal this evening, after consecutive defeats to Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup and Bournemouth on Saturday, which ended an eleven-month unbeaten run in the Premier League. Guardiola says he knows the standard they have set but is confident they can bounce back:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-50-cents and the euro at 19-rand-6-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-71-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-704-dollars-26-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-738-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-89-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….