News 15:00

BULLETIN 5 November 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Families protest for clemency for detained South African engineers in Equatorial Guinea
# Water sector reforms begin under Operation Vulindlela
# And soccer: UEFA announces one-minute silence before this week’s matches after the deadly floods in Spain

# The families of two South African engineers unlawfully detained in Equatorial Guinea for 634 days, staged a peaceful protest at Africa Energy Week in Cape Town today. They appealed for clemency, highlighting the severe toll on Frik Potgieter and British-South African citizen Peter Huxham’s health. Spokesperson Shaun Murphy urges the South African and UK ministers to intervene and secure the men’s release:

# Water and Sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina has announced that water sector reforms in the past 100-days in office is part of Operation Vulindlela. She told the media that key steps include creating the National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency for faster water-use license processing with a 90-day target, and reforms in municipal water services to improve regulation. Majodina says these changes aim to modernise water management and enhance sustainability across South Africa:

# The Johannesburg Stock Exchange has warned that Eskom’s bonds could be suspended and removed if it fails to submit its 2023/’24 financial statements by month-end. Eskom, which issues bonds on the JSE’s Debt Board, missed the listing requirement deadline of seven months. The power utility cited delays due to an ongoing investigation, promising to release its statements by December. This warning follows a suspended three-million-rand fine earlier this year for governance lapses.

# DA leader John Steenhuisen has expressed strong opposition to clauses four and five of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act during a protest in Pretoria. He warned that learning in a non-native language can hurt learners’ understanding of subjects like mathematics and science. Addressing protestors at the Voortrekker Monument, Steenhuisen called for local control in schools and a focus on improving education standards, stating that South Africa’s future depends on a well-educated youth.

# Soccer: European governing body UEFA announced that one-minute’s silence will be observed before this week’s club matches following last week’s deadly floods in Valencia, Spain. Over 200 people were killed when a year’s worth of rain struck the region within eight hours. Champions League encounters are being played today and tomorrow, and Europa League and Conference League fixtures on Thursday. Spanish powerhouse Barcelona announced earlier players’ jerseys will be auctioned to raise funds for the victims.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-46-cents and the euro at 19-rand-2-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-67-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-766-dollars-20-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-738-dollars-75-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….