News 15:00

BULLETIN 3 December 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa urges civil society participation in the G20 presidency
# Parliament’s Trade committee is to summon commercial banks over credit issues and charges
# And rugby: The Stormers captain may also be on the sidelines this weekend

# President Cyril Ramaphosa calls for strong civil society involvement in South Africa’s G20 presidency, urging broad participation to ensure inclusive global decision-making. He states the voices of business, labour, youth, and vulnerable communities are crucial in shaping global solutions. During a media briefing, Ramaphosa announced plans for a G20 social forum and the launch of a new Township20 initiative to showcase the potential of township economies:

# Parliament’s Trade, Industry, and Competition Committee plans to summon commercial banks early next year to address various issues. Chairperson Mzwandile Masina highlights concerns over easy access to consumer credit, while credit for business creation remains scarce. He also criticises banks for imposing unreasonable charges and unilateral laws. The committee aims to hold banks accountable and address these matters, ensuring transparency and fairness.

# Nigeria wants South Africa’s assistance in training mining experts to enhance global competitiveness. During the eleventh South Africa-Nigeria bi-national commission in Cape Town, Nigerian minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, presented a draft memorandum of understanding for consideration. She says the document is testament to the strong bilateral relations between the two countries:

# Rugby: The Stormers’ woes have intensified with captain Dan du Plessis also in doubt for Saturday’s Champions Cup encounter against Toulon in Gqeberha. He was injured during this past weekend’s loss to the Sharks in Durban. Springbok utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was concussed in the same match and will also not be available for the clash with the French giants. Forwards coach Rito Hlungwani says exciting young centre Jonathan Roche may be considered to make his debut in top flight rugby.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-9-cents and the euro at 19-rand-2-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-867-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-643-dollars-53-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-33-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The University of Cape Town says it study has revealed levels of vaping among high school learners in South Africa, with nearly 30-percent of Grade 12 learners reporting active use. This first-of-its-kind research, involving over 25-thousand learners across 52 schools, was published in Lancet EClinicalMedicine. The study reveals that 16.8-percent of high school learners have vaped in the past 30 days, with the prevalence increasing sharply by grade, reaching a concerning 29.5-percent among matriculants and in some schools as high as 46-percent. According to Professor Richard van Zyl-Smit the findings emphasise the highly addictive nature of vaping products.

Stay tuned for more news………….