News 08:00

BULLETIN 5 December 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa celebrates the Youth Employment Service’s 200-thousand jobs milestone
# The DA submits new evidence to the police on the MK Party war recruitment allegations
# And golf: The Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan leads the Nedbank Golf Challenge

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Youth Employment Service has grown at over 25-percent per year since 2021, creating pathways to bring talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into the world of work. He delivered a keynote address at the YES celebration of its 200-thousand jobs milestone in Johannesburg. To date, YES has placed over 202-thousand-558 young people in quality work experiences, enabled by over one-thousand-900 companies. Ramaphosa says South Africa must adopt a dual system that allows young people to work and learn simultaneously:

# The DA says it has submitted new evidence to police over claims that young South African men were charged 20-thousand-rand to join the Russia-Ukraine war via the MK Party. Former president Jacob Zuma and his daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, are implicated in coordinating the trips. The DA’s Chris Hattingh, calls for a full investigation, including possible prosecution, deregistration of the party, and the safe return of all victims.

# Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, has expressed his concern about the current initiation season following five deaths in the Eastern Cape. The deaths have been recorded in Buffalo City, Chris Hani, and OR Tambo municipalities. Police have already made 21 arrests linked to illegal initiation activities. Minister Hlabisa is calling for surprise inspections of initiation schools, especially in high-risk areas, as part of a rigorous effort to combat unsafe practices and ensure compliance. He adds that negligence or inaction cannot be tolerated.

# Democratic Republic of Congo president Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame have signed a peace deal aimed at ending the long-running conflict in the region. US president Donald Trump hosted the signing ceremony at the US Institute of Peace in Washington. About seven-thousand people have died in fighting in the east of the DRC since Rwanda-backed M23 rebels started renewed advances in January. Trump has hailed the peace agreement as a historic step towards bringing prosperity to Africa:

# Golf: Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan fired an opening round nine-under 63 to lead the Nedbank Golf Challenge in North West. He has earned himself a three-stroke lead over England’s Marcus Armitage, Frenchman Adrien Saddier and Jesper Svensson of Sweden. Garrick Higgo and Shaun Norris finished round one as the joint leading South Africans on four under par. Reitan says he is happy with his performance so far:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-97-cents and the euro at 19-rand-77-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-62-cents and Bitcoin trades at 92-thousand-436-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-204-dollars-3-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-93-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….