News 16:00

BULLETIN 26 November 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ATM challenges the ANC’s rejection of Ramaphosa’s impeachment over Phala Phala in the Constitutional Court
# A former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana is granted 20-thousand-rand bail
# And cricket: South Africa and Sri Lanka face off in the first of two Tests from tomorrow

# The African Transformation Movement is challenging the ANC’s decision to reject president Cyril Ramaphosa’s impeachment over the Phala Phala scandal in the Constitutional Court. The ATM, along with the EFF, argues Parliament’s decision to block the impeachment inquiry was irrational and unlawful. The ATM’s legal representative, Anton Katz, defended the independent panel’s report and said prima facie evidence is enough to justify impeachment:

# Former South African Airways board member Yakhe Kwinana has been granted 20-thousand-rand bail after appearing in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court in Gauteng on fraud charges. The state alleges she failed to disclose to the board of directors and the audit committee of SAA prior contractual ties with PwC and Nkonki Incorporated, influencing SAA’s tender award in 2011/2012, and leading to tender irregularities. The matter has been postponed to 10 December for disclosure of the docket.

# ActionSA says South Africa remains unsafe, with rampant criminality continuing to go largely unchallenged, as crime trends upward from the previous quarter. ActionSA’s Dereleen James says between July and September this year, South Africa witnessed a horrifying six-thousand-545 murders, with a staggering 71 lives lost every single day, or three every hour. She says the scale of violence, particularly against women and children, remains deeply alarming:

# China says it deployed air and naval forces to monitor a US military plane as it flew over politically sensitive waters separating China and Taiwan. The United States and its allies regularly cross through the 180-kilometre Taiwan Strait, either by ship or aircraft, to reinforce the international status of the waterway, angering Beijing. China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and claims jurisdiction over the body of water separating the two. To assert its claims, Beijing regularly deploys fighter jets and warships around the island.

# Cricket: The Proteas and Sri Lanka, who both still have a chance of reaching the final of the World Test Championship, will take one each other in the first of two Tests from tomorrow. The first Test will be played in Durban, where the visitors have so far won all three their Tests against the hosts. The second one starts in Gqeberha on the fifth of next month. Sri Lanka is currently third in the Test rankings behind India and Australia, followed by New Zealand and South Africa.  

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-9-cents and the euro at 19-rand-5-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-78-cents and Bitcoin trades at 92-thousand-541-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-634-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-13-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….