News 15:00

BULLETIN 12 December 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The pre-trial hearing of Hillary Gardee’s alleged murderer starts in the High Court
# ACSA airports are set for major construction and upgrades
# And rugby: Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Dolf win the SA Players’ Player of the Year awards

# The pre-trial hearing of the accused in the murder of the daughter of EFF politician Godrich Gardee, Hillary Gardee, has started at the Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela. Convicted murderer Rassie Nkune stands accused of kidnapping and killing Gardee, whose body was found in a plantation outside Mbombela in 2022. Nkune faces 12 charges. He is already serving two life sentences for killing his partner and her sister in KaNyamazane in 2022.

# Airports Company South Africa announced a major capital expenditure programme rollout at its airports. CEO Mpumi Mpofu says 72-percent of the 21.7-billion-rand programme will be used for refurbishments, including toilets, security, and technology upgrades. She says 15-percent of the budget will be used to improve passenger flow, expanding capacity in congested airports like Cape Town, George, Chief Dawid Stuurman, and King Phalo over the next three years:

# The National Union of Mineworkers has rejected government’s revised Eskom unbundling strategy, reiterating its opposition to privatisation of the energy sector. The union’s Khangela Baloyi says separating Eskom into generation, transmission, and distribution units will threaten jobs, reduce public access to affordable energy, and replace the utility with profit-driven private players. He calls on government to halt the process and strengthen Eskom as a unified, state-owned entity.

# Williston in the Bushmanland region of the Northern Cape remains drought-stricken while heavy rains have fallen across parts of South Africa. AfriForum and Saai have purchased 12 tons of feed to assist farmers. AfriForum’s Tarien Cook urges government intervention and public support, warning without emergency aid, farms, communities, schools, and incomes face a severe socio-economic crisis:

# Rugby: Springbok flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was named as men’s fifteens Players’ Player of the Year for 2025, while Donavan Don took the honours in the men’s sevens category. The Women’s Players’ Player of the Year is Springbok Byrhandré Dolf. Announcing the awards, general manager: Rugby Operations at MyPlayers, Isma-eel Dollie, says this year’s winners have shown exceptional leadership and influence throughout the season, and their recognition speaks to the high standards they set both on and off the field.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-87-cents and the euro at 19-rand-78-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-55-cents and Bitcoin trades at 92-thousand-388-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-334-dollars-10-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 60-dollars-93-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….