News 13:00

BULLETIN 19 December 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Municipal Employees Pension Fund announces 97-percent of two-pot claims are successfully processed
# The National Christian Forum says Johannesburg’s water crisis is a slap in the face of voters
# And cricket: Björn Fortuin replaces the injured Keshav Maharaj in the Proteas’ squad for the remaining ODIs against Pakistan

# The Municipal Employees Pension Fund has announced that 97-percent of two-pot claims received had been successfully processed and paid out. The fund’s Mathawe Matsapola says the remaining three-percent, which accounts for 113 members, have not yet been finalized. She says this is due to various reasons, including pending divorce proceedings, outstanding claim documents, defaulting members, defaulting municipalities, and cases where members withdrew their applications:

# The South African National Christian Forum says the continuous water challenges, especially in Johannesburg, should be used as a test for parties who don’t deserve a vote in 2026. Rand Water’s 86-hour maintenance programme over the past weekend left many residents without water. Several communities are still without water. The forum’s Marothi Mashashane says accountability is needed:

# The International Monetary Fund says the ongoing unrest in Mozambique will impact economic growth. According to the IMF’s Olamide Harrison, Mozambique’s 2024 economic growth forecast of 4.3-percent may be downgraded due to post-election unrest and Cyclone Chido. Harrison says the protests over disputed election results have disrupted mining and trade corridors while the storm killed 34 people. IMF negotiations for a credit facility will resume after Mozambique’s political transition concludes.

# Israel struck ports and energy infrastructure in Yemen today after intercepting a missile fired from the country. Israel warned Huthi rebel leaders there that they can reach them. Huthi media says the strikes hit power stations, oil facilities and a port in Hodaidah, killing nine people and injuring others. Iran, which backs the group, denounced the raids as a flagrant violation of the principles and norms of international law and the United Nations Charter. The Huthis have regularly targeted Israel over its military operation in Gaza.

# Cricket: Björn Fortuin has replaced injured spinner Keshav Maharaj in the Proteas’ squad for the remaining two one-day matches against Pakistan. Maharaj sustained a groin injury during warm-up before Tuesday’s first ODI in Paarl and a scan confirmed a strain. He was still included in the squad for the two Tests, the first one starting in Centurion next Thursday. The second ODI is taking place at Newlands in Cape Town today and the final one at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-23-cents and the euro at 18-rand-99-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-7-cents and Bitcoin trades at 101-thousand-772-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-621-dollars-21-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….