News 12:00

BULLETIN 8 November 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Gauteng Education Department suspends the sale of food on school premises
# Julius Malema claims Dali Mpofu wanted to dissolve the EFF and unite behind Jacob Zuma
# And rugby: A full weekend of Test action awaits fans

# The Gauteng Department of Education has instructed all schools to suspend the sale of food within and around school premises until further notice. This follows an increase in incidents of foodborne illnesses, including the death of six children last month, after eating snacks from a spaza shop in Soweto. The department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, says once the suspension has been lifted, schools will have to implement measures to safeguard the health and well-being of learners:

Meanwhile, the South African National Christian Forum says it is preparing legal action against president Cyril Ramaphosa, to force him to close all spaza shops in the country. This follows the deaths of at least 12 children countrywide, while many others were hospitalised. The forum’s leader, Bishop Marothi Mashashane, says Ramaphosa has been slow in acting to urgently address this public emergency.

# EFF leader Julius Malema claims that while former president Jacob Zuma was looking at establishing a political party, Dali Mpofu proposed dissolving the EFF and uniting behind Zuma. Yesterday, Mpofu became the latest senior member of the red berets to leave the party and join Zuma’s MK Party. Mpofu, who served as the EFF’s national chairperson, confirmed that he helped establish MK a year ago. During a podcast, Malema said Mpofu made this proposal at a meeting last year:

# Nissan has announced plans to cut nine-thousand jobs globally. According to News24, the company will also cut CEO Makoto Uchida’s salary by 50-percent, citing a severe situation driven by weak North American sales and competition in China’s electric vehicle market. The automaker has reduced its sales forecast to 1.3-billion-rand and will cut production by 20-percent. Nissan also plans to reduce its stake in Mitsubishi Motors as part of a broader turnaround strategy focused on cost-efficiency and brand rebuilding.

# Rugby: A full weekend of Test action awaits fans. Ireland will host New Zealand in Dublin tonight in the first meeting between the two teams since the All Blacks defeated the Irish in last year’s World Cup quarterfinal. Tomorrow, England and Australia will face off at Twickenham, followed by the encounter between Italy and Argentina in Udine. Then France will welcome Japan to Paris. On Sunday, Wales will play Fiji in Cardiff before the weekend culminates in the clash between the Springboks and Scotland at Murrayfield.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-42-cents and the euro at 18-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-55-cents and Bitcoin trades at 76-thousand-200-dollars-50-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-686-dollars-61-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-83-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….