News 11:00

BULLETIN 7 November 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Dali Mpofu becomes the latest EFF member to join the MK Party
# The Institute for Race Relations is concerned about the Public Investment Corporation being used for the National Health Insurance
# And the US Justice Department is looking at options to wind down Trump’s two federal cases

# Former EFF national chairperson Dali Mpofu has joined the MK Party. He forms part of the exodus of EFF leaders who have jumped ship in recent months to join Jacob Zuma’s party, including former deputy president Floyd Shivambu, Mzwanele Manyi, and Busisiwe Mkhwebane. Mpofu, a long-standing Zuma ally, told the SABC this move to the MK Party had been in the works for a year:

# The Institute of Race Relations says government looking at the assets of the Public Investment Corporation to potentially fund the National Health Insurance, shows it still has no idea how it’s going to fund it. Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi has revealed that his department and National Treasury are discussing the possibility of accessing PIC funds to pay for public health infrastructure. The institute’s Marius Roodt says NHI is not the answer to good quality healthcare:

# The Department of Correctional Services has confirmed that an inmate has escaped from the Boksburg Correctional Centre in Gauteng. Martin Jackson is serving a 20-year sentence for robbery, theft, and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition. The circumstances surrounding the escape are being investigated. The department’s spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, says they will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that Jackson is rearrested and brought back to justice:

# US Justice Department officials have reportedly begun evaluating how to wind down two federal criminal cases against president-elect Donald Trump before he takes office in January. The two cases brought by special counsel, Jack Smith, have to do with Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, and his alleged mishandling of classified documents. According to reports, the move by the department is to comply with a 2020 memo from the Office of Legal Counsel about indictments or prosecutions of sitting presidents.

# Soccer: A British judge ordered Manchester City to pay former player Benjamin Mendy the majority of 265-million-rand withheld after he was charged with rape and sexual assault in 2021. The 30-year-old defender took the matter to an employment tribunal after he was acquitted on all nine charges against him. The former French international left City last year. He says a senior club official assured him he would get his unpaid salary once he had been cleared of the charges.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-54-cents and the euro at 18-rand-85-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-68-cents and Bitcoin trades at 74-thousand-712-dollars-6-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-655-dollars-97-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-14-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….