News 09:00

BULLETIN 16 January 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

 Business Leadership South Africa warns of populist politicking ahead of the elections
# An education activist says government should find a way to fill all vacant teaching posts
# And, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah has won an Emmy 

# Business Leadership South Africa believes there is a heightened risk of populist policy being rushed through Parliament to add to the electioneering. This as the country is heading for national elections this year. The business organisation’s CEO Busisiwe Mavuso says political campaigns can be a distraction to the business of running the country, particularly at a crucial time for progress on the major challenges facing the economy. She says maintaining momentum in reform partnerships, and delivering on agreed priorities while election season unfolds is imperative.

# Education activist Hendrick Makaneta says government should find a way to fill all vacant teaching posts in South Africa, particularly level one teaching posts, created by the teachers who went on pension. There are currently more teachers in the country than the education system can accommodate. Makaneta says it cannot be correct for qualified teachers to remain unemployed while there are vacant posts that are funded:

# The GOOD party in the Eastern Cape has opened two cases of fraud and corruption against the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality EFF councillor, Khanya Nqgisha. This is amid allegations of bribery and abuse of Expanded Public Works Programme funds. The GOOD Party’s Lawrence Troon says in the first case, Nqgisha apparently attempted to solicit a one-million-rand bribe from the multi-billion rand company, Hive Energy, in return for support to get a council-approved project in Coega:

# Motorsport: Formula One Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff has signed a new deal, extending his contract for three years until the end of 2026. The 52-year-old, who owns a third of Mercedes F1, has been with the team since January 2013 and has led them to a record eight successive Constructors’ Championships from 2014 to 2021. The Silver Arrows have won just one race since F1’s regulations were overhauled two years ago and went winless last year. Wolff says he remains hopeful that they can challenge Red Bull’s dominance this season.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-77-cents and the euro at 20-rand-50-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-82-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-809-dollars-43-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-49-dollars-19-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-18-cents a barrel.

# And finally, The Daily Show With Trevor Noah won Outstanding Talk Series at the 75th Emmy Awards. This is the first win for the show since Jon Stewart’s final year as host. The South African comedian is the first black person to win an Emmy for this category. The Daily Show beat The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Problem with Jon Stewart and Late Night with Seth Meyers, for the award. Noah, who left the Comedy Central show more than a year ago, accepted the award:

Stay tuned for more news………….