News 08:00

BULLETIN 30 December 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The SA Medical Association says remuneration adjustments for politicians must be inflation-linked
# Russia claims a Ukrainian drone attack targeted Putin’s residence
# And soccer, Bafana Bafana is through to the AFCON round of 16

# The South African Medical Association has criticised the proposed 4.1-percent salary increase for public office bearers for the 2025-2026 financial year. It says this recommendation appears misaligned with the current socio-economic realities facing the country. The association recommends an inflation-linked increase of 3.1-percent, in line with broader public sector realities. It adds that any remuneration adjustments for politicians should be carefully balanced against service delivery imperatives, fiscal sustainability and the ethical responsibility of leadership to place the public interest above individual benefit.

# South Africa’s last manganese smelter, Transalloys, in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, has issued a Section 189 notice signaling possible large-scale retrenchments affecting around 600 direct jobs and seven-thousand livelihoods. CEO Konstantin Sadovnik cites high electricity costs, negative margins, and market pressures as unsustainable for operations. The plant currently runs only two of five furnaces. He urges swift government action to preserve jobs, warning that restructuring may begin early February:

# Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero says the double-storey house, which collapsed in Doornkop, Soweto, on Sunday, was illegally built. Three people, including a one-year-old child, died when the building gave way. Public Works and Infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson has directed the Council for the Built Environment to launch an immediate investigation into the structural collapse. Morero says they will soon announce plans to relocate residents in Doornkop to a better place:

# Russia’s Foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has claimed that Ukraine tried to attack president Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region. He alleges that air defences shot down 91 long-range drones near Putin’s state residence, adding that no damage or casualties resulted from the incident. Lavrov says that the Russian military has selected targets for retaliatory strikes. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the drone attack claim as a complete fabrication from Moscow.

# Soccer: South Africa defeated Zimbabwe 3-2 to qualify for the knockout phase of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco for the third consecutive time. Goals from Tshepang Moremi, Lyle Foster, and Oswin Appollis clinched second place in Group B for Bafana Bafana behind Egypt. Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos says he is concerned about their costly mistakes, especially going into the knockout stages:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-67-cents and the euro at 19-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-51-cents and Bitcoin trades at 86-thousand-910-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-363-dollars-77-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 61-dollars-35-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….