News 11:00

BULLETIN 7 December 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# John Steenhuisen says the 2026 local government elections will be keenly contested
# AfriForum says the High Court ruling on municipal power tariffs is a real milestone for electricity consumers
# And motorsport: Max Verstappen takes pole for the crucial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

# DA leader, John Steenhuisen says the local government elections take centre stage in 2026 and will be keenly contested. Steenhuisen addressed the DA Northern Cape Congress in Upington yesterday. He says in some parts of the country, families have endured endless water outages, contaminated supplies, overflowing sewage, and broken infrastructure that never seems to be repaired. He adds the sewerage crisis has reached the point where residents live with the daily threat of environmental and health disasters caused by mismanagement and neglect:

# AfriForum says the Pretoria High Court ruling against the National Engergy Regulator on the implementation of specific timelines for all future municipal power tariff applications is a real milestone for electricity consumers across the country. AfriForum’s Morné Mostert says the court unequivocally found that Nersa’s long-standing, systemic and persistent failure to follow timely and transparent processes for tariff increases completely undermined the public participation process:

# The Cape Winelands District Municipality’s Fire Services in the Western Cape has confirmed that the five major fires reported over the last few days have now been contained. The municipality’s spokesperson, Jo-Anne Otto says in Ida’s Valley outside Stellenbosch, with the wind easing overnight, teams made excellent progress and the fire line is fully contained. She says a few warm areas still require mopping-up and a ground crew will remain on site throughout the day:

# The Franchise Association of South Africa newly appointed CEO, Freddy Makgato emphasises the urgent need to leverage franchising to drive South Africa’s economic recovery and growth. He says the franchising sector currently contributes approximately 15-percent to South Africa’s growth domestic product. Makgato says if the franchising model is implemented, South Africa could yield substantial economic benefits, including the creation of thousands of new employment opportunities and expansion and empowerment of small and medium-sized enterprises:

# Russia carried out a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine overnight as Kyiv is set to meet with the United States amid ongoing diplomatic efforts toward a peace agreement. Moscow launched 653 drones and 51 missiles, which triggered air raid alerts across Ukraine. Ukrainian forces were able to shoot down and neutralise 585 drones and 30 missiles. A total of 29 locations were struck, wounding at least eight people, including three in Kyiv. Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defenses had shot down 116 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory over the weekend.

# And motorsport: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen outgunned his two title rivals from McLaren to take pole position for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and strengthen his bid for a fifth successive title. Championship leader Lando Norris, who is 12 points ahead of Verstappen and will win the title if he finishes on the podium, will start alongside him with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in third. Grid position has been crucial at Abu Dhabi with each of the last 12 races won by cars starting on the front row, 10 of them by the pole-sitter.

Stay tuned for more news………….