News 06:00

BULLETIN 4 December 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# International Relations says South Africa’s exclusion from the G20 sherpas meeting is a breach of protocol
# Forum says the Madlanga Commission must be respected
# And cricket: The Proteas beat India to level the ODI series

# Department of International Relations and Cooperation director general, Zane Dangor, says the decision by the US not to invite South Africa to the first meeting of the G20 sherpas is a breach of protocol. The US officially took over the G20 presidency from South Africa on Monday. Dangor told Parliament that they learnt of the meeting set to take place in Washington later this month from the sherpas of other member states, who expressed their disapproval at South Africa being excluded:

# National Director of Public Prosecutions head, Shamila Batohi’s legal team, has asked the Nkabinde inquiry to expand its terms of reference to include a charge of misconduct. The inquiry, led by retired Judge Bess Nkabinde, is assessing the fitness of suspended Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions, Andrew Chauke. He was suspended in July after Batohi filed a complaint with president Cyril Ramaphosa. Nkabinde said any changes to the terms must be taken up with the Presidency:

# The Activists and Citizens Forum has condemned the disrespectful and arrogant behaviour of retired Ekurhuleni city manager Imogen Mashazi at the Madlanga commission. Mashazi appeared before the commission regarding allegations that she shielded former Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department acting chief Julius Mkhwanazi, who allegedly conducted business with criminal suspect Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. The forum’s Dennis Bloem urged the commission’s chairperson, Mbuyiseli Madlanga, to make it clear that such behaviour will not be tolerated:

# ActionSA says the DA is wrongly using a forensic report to accuse Tshwane’s deputy mayor, Eugene Modise, of fraud. According to the party, the report, tabled in council last week, made no findings of corruption or fraud. ActionSA’s Michael Beaumont says the DA’s criminal charges are a political stunt. Beaumont warns residents that accountability must follow proper legal and council steps, not political tricks:

# Somalis reacted with outrage on Wednesday to Donald Trump’s derogatory remarks about them and their country. In comments made during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump described Somalis as “garbage” and said, “We don’t want them in our country”. Abdisalan Omar, an elder in central Somalia, said a president who speaks in such a way cannot serve the US and the world. Trump has stepped up attacks on people in the US who come from Somalia since last week’s shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, which led him to promise to freeze migration from “third-world countries”.

# Cricket: South Africa defeated India by four wickets in the second ODI in Raipur to level the three-match series 1-1. Virat Kohli scored 102, his 53rd ODI century, while Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 105, his maiden century in this format, as India posted a daunting total of 358 for five. In reply, Aiden Markram led the chase, scoring 110, his first ODI ton, as the Proteas reached the target with four balls to spare. The final match will be played in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-1-cents and the euro at 19-rand-86-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-72-cents and Bitcoin trades at 93-thousand-817-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-206-dollars-62-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-54-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….