News 06:00

BULLETIN 26 November 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA sees positive results in the reduction of crime
# Paul Mashatile decries the rise in child pregnancies
# And more than a dozen people are missing after a tourist boat sinks off the coast of Egypt

# The DA acknowledges progress in reducing crime, with a 5.1-percent drop in serious crimes, including a 5.8-percent drop in murders and a 2.5-percent reduction in sexual offences. However, the party warns that crime is still high, particularly violence against women and children, rising commercial crime, and insufficient crime intelligence. The DA’s Ian Cameron calls for better policing, improved technology, and stronger government cooperation to fight crime more effectively:

Meanwhile, Action Society says the latest crime statistics fail to capture the true scale of violence against women and children. According to the organisation, the report for the second quarter of 2024/2025 shows disturbing increases in violent crimes, with 957 murders of women, ten-thousand-191 rapes, and 315 child killings recorded. Action Society spokesperson Juanita du Preez demands urgent prioritisation of gender-based violence cases:

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile condemned the increasing number of child pregnancies, describing it as a crisis that reflects deeper socio-economic and cultural issues. During the official launch of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children, at the Rustenburg Civic Centre, he revealed that in the past year, over 100-thousand of all births were to girls aged ten to 19 years. Mashatile called for stronger action against perpetrators and more protection for vulnerable children:

# Solidarity has launched an urgent court application to block the Western Cape Education Department from cutting teacher posts next year. The department plans to cut over two-thousand teacher posts due to a 3.8-billion-rand budget shortfall. Solidarity says its case is specifically focused on a decision by Bellville High School to declare the post of three teachers redundant. However, following their dismissal, the school filled the positions. Solidarity says the court must decide if the layoff process is in line with the Labour Relations Act.

# More than a dozen people are missing after a tourist boat sank in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt. The boat, Sea Story, was part of a diving trip and carried 45 people, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and 14 crew. The governor of the Red Sea region said yesterday authorities are searching for missing people with at least 28 people rescued. The Egyptian Meteorological Authority issued a warning on Saturday about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea.

# Rugby: Springbok prodigy Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is expected to return from injury for the Stormers in this weekend’s United Rugby Championship match against the Sharks in Durban. He injured his knee during the Rugby Championship and missed out on the Boks’ Northern Hemisphere tour. The Stormers are currently in 13th place on the URC log after winning only two of their five matches so far. The Sharks are in ninth position after three victories out of five outings.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-4-cents and the euro at 18-rand-94-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-68-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-250-dollar-89-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-627-dollars-21-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….