News 08:00

BULLETIN 12 November 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Fikile Mbalula says South Africa won’t be dictated to by Donald Trump
# The GOOD Party warns that poverty and hunger will persist
# And the UN warns of a renewed full-scale conflict in South Sudan

# ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula has reiterated that South Africa’s policies will not be dictated by US president Donald Trump, as the country is a sovereign state and not a dictatorship. Trump has continued to claim that there is genocide in South Africa and has called for the country to be removed from the G20 group. Briefing the media in Johannesburg yesterday following a meeting of the National Working Committee, Mbalula says that as the ANC, they won’t be threatened by sanctions:

# The GOOD Party says South Africa’s economy shows modest signs of recovery, but poverty and hunger remain a serious concern. Ahead of Finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s medium-term budget policy statement today, the party warns that slow economic growth and limited social relief leave many South Africans struggling to afford food and basic needs. GOOD’s Brett Herron urges the government to focus spending on infrastructure, jobs, and a national food programme for the most vulnerable:

# Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has lauded his bomb squad team, saying it has become the metro’s fastest-acting mechanism, reducing the time between incident reporting and final resolution. The bomb squad was introduced as part of a turnaround strategy, focusing on issues such as land invasion, illegal migrants and potholes. Morero says since June, the team has achieved an 86-percent resolution rate across 42 major escalations and processed 724 service cases. He adds that the team’s results are visible across all regions.

# The United Nations is warning that South Sudan shows all the signs of a clear and present danger of relapsing back to full-scale conflict. In 2018, the Revitalised Peace Agreement was signed, ending five years of civil war. However, surging ceasefire violations this year have left the country on the brink of renewed war. UN Women executive director, Sima Bahous, says South Sudan has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the region, with an estimated 2.7-million people at risk:

# Rugby: England coach Steve Borthwick has made seven changes to the team for Saturday’s clash against New Zealand in Twickenham. Captain Maro Itoje, George Ford, Jamie George, Freddie Steward, Tom Roebuck, Fin Baxter and Sam Underhill all come back into the starting lineup after dropping out of last weekend’s 38-18 victory over Fiji. Borthwick has opted for a 6-2 split on the bench, with Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Curry and Henry Pollock among the reinforcements. Ollie Chessum and Tommy Freeman both miss out due to injury.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-15-cents and the euro at 19-rand-86-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-54-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-265-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-119-dollars-72-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-80-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….