News 14:00

BULLETIN 30 December 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A mining group appeals to the Constitutional Court in a last-ditch effort to save the lives of miners in Stilfontein
# Biden describes late former president Jimmy Carter as an extraordinary leader
# And the death toll in a road accident in Ethiopia rises to at least 71

# The Mining Affected Communities United in Action and the Lawyers for Human Rights have filed an urgent application for direct access to the Constitutional Court. They say this is done to save lives of trapped miners in Stilfontein, North West. Macua’s Magnificent Mndebele says the appeal comes after the High Court in Pretoria dismissed their urgent application on 20 December to compel the state to uphold its constitutional obligations to protect and save the lives of miners:

# ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has warned party members against engaging in succession debates. He emphasised that such discussions would undermine efforts to renew the party. In a document titled: “ANC succession debate: a non-starter,” he describes recent succession narratives as distractions from addressing the ANC’s electoral decline. Mbalula stresses the importance of focusing on the party’s strategic choices, including the government of national unity to rebuild the ANC’s electoral base. He says the ANC’s goal remains accelerated national transformation through renewal and electoral success.

# US president Joe Biden has paid tribute to former president Jimmy Carter, who passed away yesterday aged 100. Biden praised him as an extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian. Addressing the country, Biden said Carter lived a life measured not by words, but by deeds. He says despite serving only one term, his impact on the country remains significant:

# The death toll from a road accident in southern Ethiopia has risen to at least 71. The accident occurred in Sidama state, some 300 kilometres south of the capital of Addis Ababa. Sidama Police Commission, Traffic Prevention and Control Directorate says in a Facebook post 68 men and three women are known to have died so far. The incident occurred when the truck they were on plunged off a road and into a river.

# Soccer: Liverpool stretched their Premier League lead to eight points after thrashing West Ham United 5-0 at the London Stadium, with Mo Salah once again in irrepressible form. The Egyptian has been enjoying a vintage season despite uncertainty over a new contract. He now has 20 goals in all competitions this season and appears to be firing Liverpool towards a 20th league title in Arne Slot’s first season in charge. Liverpool has 45 points from 18 games with Nottingham Forest their closest pursuers on 37 points.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-76-cents and the euro at 19-rand-58-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-61-cents and Bitcoin trades at 93-thousand-864-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-613-dollars-82-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-45-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….