News 15:00

BULLETIN 4 December 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA welcomes the court order for the removal of Johannesburg’s city manager
# Save South Africa condemns the appointment of minister Thembi Simelane
# And cricket: Heinrich Klaasen captains the Proteas in the T20s against Pakistan while Aiden Markram is rested

# The DA has lauded the Gauteng High Court’s ruling to remove Johannesburg city manager Floyd Brink within ten working days, declaring his appointment irregular. The decision followed Brink’s own complaint about being overlooked for the permanent role initially. The DA’s Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku emphasises that the appointment was unlawful:

# The Save South Africa Civic Movement says president Cyril Ramaphosa has no interest in fighting corruption and the corrupt. The movement’s Tebogo Mashilompane says instead of removing former Justice minister Thembi Simelane completely, the president decided to reward her with another important portfolio as minister of Human Settlements. He says they continue to be disappointed at the conduct of Ramaphosa:

# AfriForum says its 2024 blue and green drop report highlights alarming trends in South Africa’s water quality. While 87-percent of municipal drinking water is deemed safe, only 13-percent of treated sewage meets minimum discharge standards. The report reveals widespread mismanagement in water and sewage treatment, with major concerns over pollution and higher treatment costs in future. AfriForum urges urgent action to address the crisis, warning that poor municipal performance could lead to unsafe drinking water and environmental damage.

# Germany has committed 5.2-billion-rand to South Africa for skills development and energy transition projects through 2026. The funding was announced during intergovernmental talks in Berlin, and aligns with South Africa’s G20 presidency goals. President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised using the presidency to address climate resilience and just energy transitions. Germany reaffirmed its support for climate neutrality, while both nations pledged deeper collaboration ahead of the G20 summit in Johannesburg in November next year.

# Cricket: Heinrich Klaasen will captain the Proteas in the three T20s against Pakistan, starting in Durban on Tuesday. This follows the decision not to consider regular white-ball captain Aiden Markram, as well a Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada and Tristan Stubbs. They are currently involved in the Test series against Sri Lanka and won’t play in the T20s due to the quick turnaround between the series. Spinner Tabraiz Shamsi and quick bowler Anrich Nortjé return for the first time since the T20 World Cup in June.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-14-cents and the euro at 19-rand-5-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-97-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-490-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-644-dollars-10-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-77-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….