News 07:00
BULLETIN 27 November 7 am
Good morning. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# The minister of Transport says there will be a zero-tolerance approach to those who disregard the rules of the road
# The DA accuses the government of failing the country’s children
# And, AfriForum is heading to the United Nations to shine the spotlight on discrimination and hate speech
# Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga says there will be zero tolerance for those who disregard the rules of the road during this festive season. She officially launched the 2023/2024 Festive Season Road Safety Campaign in Tsakane on Gauteng’s East Rand yesterday. The focus of this year’s campaign is on the impact of alcohol on road user behaviour and its contribution to the carnage. Chikunga has issued a stern warning to criminals who terrorize motorists along the country’s roads this festive season:
Meanwhile, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi spoke at the same event and said traffic officers must be firm on motorists who drink and drive. Lesufi says the government must pass a law to ensure that a person, who gets behind the wheel, should not be allowed to drink any alcohol. He adds that alcohol is one of the major factors in road crashes in the province:
# The DA says the recent devastating report by the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund has laid bare how the ANC government’s twisted priorities have undermined South African children. One of the findings is that more than 27-percent of children under five are stunted due to malnutrition, which can cause irreversible physical and cognitive damage. In 2020, ten-percent of children lived in households that reported child hunger. The DA says the government has done its best to collapse any programmes meant to empower, protect and support children in the country.
# The Public Service Accountability Monitor says there is no excuse for the Makana Municipality underspending its conditional grant funds. National Treasury has instructed the Eastern Cape municipality to return 60.7-million-rand in unspent conditional grant funds for the 2021/2022 and 2022/23 financial years. This includes 83-percent unspent in the municipal infrastructure grant in 2022/2023. PSAM says conditional grant funds are vital for ensuring key service delivery issues are addressed. It says the municipality’s underspending is a result of poor planning, reporting, and consequence management.
# Representatives of AfriForum will participate in two United Nations events today and Friday, to bring further international awareness to discrimination, race-based legislation, and hate speech directed at minorities in South Africa. The civil organisation’s Ernst van Zyl says one of the pressing issues that they want to bring to the UN’s attention is the government’s race criteria for exports in the agricultural industry. He says they will also submit a new report on the South African government’s racial discrimination to the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
# Motorsport: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to claim a record-extending 19 wins across 22 races this year. His team-mate Sergio Perez finished second on the track but was demoted to fourth by a five-second penalty for causing a collision with McLaren’s Lando Norris. This promoted Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to second place and George Russell of Mercedes to third, helping the Silver Arrows finish second in the constructors’ championship ahead of Ferrari. Verstappen says it has been a special season:
# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-81-cents and the euro at 20-rand-59-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-70-cents and Bitcoin trades at 37-thousand-394-dollars-78-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-8-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-90-cents a barrel.
Stay tuned for more news………….