News 07:00

BULLETIN 12 November 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Treasury says Operation Vulindlela will open markets to private investment
# AfriForum says communities must take greater responsibility for their own affairs
# And rugby: Dupont switch to flyhalf for the clash against the Springboks

# National Treasury says the structural changes being ushered in through Operation Vulindlela will take time. The operation is designed to accelerate high-impact structural reforms and drive economic recovery in South Africa. Electricity has been one of the key focus areas of reform. Treasury’s Director-General, Duncan Pieterse, says the drive for new renewable energy investment continues, but the constraint is now the national grid itself, which needs more than 100-billion-rand of investment to expand and modernise. He adds that reforms in freight rail, infrastructure and water will also end century-old monopolies.

# AfriForum says communities should take greater responsibility for their own needs, including safety, education and basic services, while efforts to change the Constitution continue. The organisation states the Constitution provides for powers at provincial and municipal level, but too much political and financial authority remains centralised, limiting local decision-making. AfriForum’s Martin van Staden says communities should meet their own needs to become more independent and gain greater control over their affairs in future: 

# Parliament’s Education portfolio committee warns much remains to be done to implement the BELA Act as parents prepare for the 2027 school year. The Act makes Grade R compulsory and changes admissions and language policies. The Department of Education reported 11-thousand-715 admission-policy reviews and 11-thousand-657 language-policy reviews from schools are outstanding. Committee Chair Joy Maimela says incomplete reviews could prejudice parents applying for admission. She says the committee raised several issues, including funding, infrastructure and capacity shortfalls, classroom shortages, practitioner qualifications, and delays in finalising regulations.

# A luxury Ferrari worth more than eleven-million-rand and owned by alleged tender fraudster Hangwani Maumela has been sold at auction for 10.1-million-rand, which is above the 9.5-million-rand reserve price. The car is linked to the two-billion-rand looting of Tembisa Hospital. Maumela is accused of masterminding three alleged syndicates linked to the looting, allegedly benefiting by more than 900-million-rand in tenders linked to the hospital. Special Investigation Unit spokesperson, Selby Makgotho, says this is a step in the right direction in their investigation:

# US special envoy Jared Kushner has described the last two days of peace talks with Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi as “tough but productive”; however, he says territorial issues remain the biggest hurdle. The talks ended with no hint of any breakthroughs to end the nearly five-year-long war. Kushner says they have agreed on a large-scale prisoner exchange, and they are pushing to bring European countries into the talks, a multilateral format that Moscow has so far resisted:

# Rugby: France captain Antoine Dupont will fill in at flyhalf for the Nations Championship clash against South Africa in Paris tomorrow evening. The former World Player of the Year will replace the injured Romain Ntamack, while Maxime Lucu will take Dupont’s place at scrumhalf. It will be the first time in 66 Test appearances that Dupont wears the number ten jersey. In other notable changes, hooker Julien Marchand and number eight Gregory Alldritt have been selected to counter the Springboks’ forward power. Les Bleus haven’t beaten the Springboks since 2022.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-59-cents and the euro at 18-rand-40-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-2-cents and Bitcoin trades at 73-thousand-530-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-991-dollars-5-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 93-dollars-98-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….