News 11:00

BULLETIN 5 January 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Presidency denies Ramaphosa’s holiday trip to Mauritius was a secret
# Trump threatens military action against Colombia
# And cricket: Joe Root stars for England in the fifth and final Ashes Test

# The Presidency has denied reports that president Cyril Ramaphosa’s holiday trip to Mauritius on board a South African Air Force Beechcraft King was kept secret, and no acting president was appointed while he was away. The president and his family went to the island over the Christmas period. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says the trip was not secret and minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, was in charge of the country. He adds Ramaphosa personally paid for the trip.

# The Basic Education Department has dismissed claims that examination irregularities are unique to the public examination system. The Freedom Front Plus alleged that the 2025 National Senior Certificate examination leak undermined trust in the public education system and could drive parents towards independent schooling. The department’s spokesperson, Terence Khala, says the detection of the irregularities itself demonstrates the robustness of the department’s quality assurance and monitoring systems:

# The National Sea Rescue Institute says search efforts are continuing for 12 bathers who remain missing following drowning accidents across the KwaZulu-Natal coastline. Three went missing on Christmas Day, and nine from New Year’s Day onward. NSRI spokesperson, Craig Lambinon, says the drowning accidents happened at Pennington Beach, Hibberdene, Umkomaas, Durban, Ballito, King Catshwayo and at St Lucia:

Moving abroad:

# US president Donald Trump has threatened military action against Colombia. This follows the large-scale strike against Venezuela and the capture of president Nicolás Maduro and his wife over the weekend. The US has been carrying out strikes targeting vessels suspected of smuggling narcotics through the Caribbean and eastern Pacific for the past four months. More than 110 people have been killed in the strikes. Trump criticised Colombia’s left-wing president, Gustavo Petro:

# Cricket: Joe Root scored 160, his 41st Test century, to steer England to a first innings total of 384 on the second day of the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia in Sydney. It’s his second century on the tour. Root also shared a 169-run fourth-wicket partnership with Harry Brook. He is now level with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting in third place in the all-time men’s Test century list. At stumps, Australia reached 166 for two, still trailing England by 218 runs, with eight wickets remaining.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-48-cents and the euro at 19-rand-26-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-13-cents and Bitcoin trades at 92-thousand-555-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-419-dollars-88-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 60-dollars-22-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….