News 17:00

BULLETIN 29 November 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Health Department finalises the 2025 medical placements
# Ramaphosa honours team South Africa’s Olympic and Paralympic achievements
# And cricket: The Proteas set Sri Lanka a winning target of 516 in Durban

# The Health Department has successfully placed eight-thousand-403 medical interns and community service officials for 2025. Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced seven-thousand-701 applicants accepted placements, with most allocated to their top choices. The department’s spokesperson, Foster Mohale, says categories like doctors, dentists, and pharmacists are fully placed, but 73 environmental health officials await allocation. He assures that the process ensures placements commence by January:

# The South African Reserve Bank has warned that deteriorating infrastructure poses a significant threat to the financial system. While progress has been made on electricity availability, challenges with water supply, quality, and transport infrastructure persist, affecting municipalities’ revenue generation and ability to repay debt. News24 reports that the 23.4-billion-rand debt owed to water boards has also exacerbated the crisis. A new focus on infrastructure repair and fiscal improvements will influence financial stability and credit ratings.

# Three alleged illegal miners were fatally shot during a confrontation with law enforcement in Sabie, Mpumalanga. Officials were attacked while patrolling near the New Village mining shaft. A police member was injured, prompting retaliation. Authorities recovered two AK-47 rifles and 500 rounds of ammunition. An attempted murder case is under investigation. Acting SAPS provincial commissioner, Zeph Mkhwanazi, urged vigilance against heavily armed illegal miners.

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has presented the prestigious Shield of Jove to retired swimmer Tatjana Smith and Paralympic athlete Mpumelelo Mhlongo for their exceptional performances at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic games. At the medallists’ ceremony at the Union Buildings in Tshwane, the president celebrated the achievements of team SA, where the country won six medals in each event. Ramaphosa says their achievements reflected both personal dedication and South Africa’s commitment to building a sustainable sporting culture:

# Cricket: The Proteas set Sri Lanka a winning target of 516 runs on the third afternoon of the first Test in Durban when they declared their second innings on 366 for five. This followed South Africa’s first-innings lead of 149 runs when they bowled the visitors out for just 42. Captain Temba Bavuma followed his heroic 70 of the first innings with 113 in the second, while Tristan Stubbs scored 122. Aiden Markram shrugged off his lack of runs of late to contribute 47.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-6-cents and the euro at 19-rand-8-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-92-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-949-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-658-dollars-91-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-93-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….