News 07:00

BULLETIN 4 October 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Constitutional Court will hear the EFF’s Phala Phala challenge in November
# Solidarity says the court battle over the NHI continues unopposed
# And the World Health Organisation reports 28 health workers have been killed in Lebanon

# The Constitutional Court has set down November 26th to hear the EFF’s application to set aside Parliament’s decision not to refer president Cyril Ramaphosa to an impeachment committee over the Phala Phala scandal. In 2022, the ANC used its majority in the National Assembly to block a motion for an impeachment inquiry against Ramaphosa. This is despite an independent panel finding that Ramaphosa had a case to answer regarding the theft of foreign currency at his Limpopo farm. The EFF argues that Parliament’s rejection of the panel’s report was irrational.

# Trade union Solidarity says it will continue its court case against the National Health Insurance Act unopposed after the government missed another deadline to submit opposing papers. The union initially filed its case in May and agreed to a postponement, but the government has failed to respond for over four months. Solidarity’s Peirru Marx says they are working on alternative proposals to the NHI, which will soon be made public: 

# Business Unity South Africa has expressed concern about Cosatu’s planned protest against retrenchments next week. Busa warns that recurring protests using outdated Nedlac certificates strain the economy and businesses. While acknowledging the importance of labor rights, Busa CEO Cas Coovadia stressed that protests shouldn’t compromise economic stability, urging collaboration to address structural issues. He also called for reforms to limit the time between Nedlac certificates and protests to ensure relevance.

# AfriForum says the announcement that the City of Tshwane will impose fines, limit, or disconnect the water supply to consumers who do not comply with the level one water restrictions is outrageous. With water usage 18-percent above the metro’s limit, Tshwane says it is facing a steep decline in reservoir capacity. AfriForum says it is unacceptable that law-abiding citizens, who faithfully pay their municipal bills, are being punished while the metro is one of the leading contributors to the crisis.

# The World Health Organisation says 28 health workers have been killed in Lebanon in the past 24 hours. More than one-thousand people in Lebanon have been killed and about one-million residents displaced since Israel escalated its war with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says plans to deliver a large shipment of trauma and medical supplies to Lebanon today won’t be possible, due to flight restrictions over the country:

# Golf: South Africa’s Darren Fichardt carded an opening round eleven-under 61 to hold a one-shot lead over Australian Cameron John at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. Robin Williams and Yurav Premlall are the next best South Africans in the field following their rounds of six-under 66 at Kingsbarns. British pair defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood both shot 68. Fichardt says he felt like his game was heading in the right direction coming into this tournament:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-45-cents and the euro at 19-rand-26-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-92-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-192-dollar-91-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-658-dollars-75-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-60-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….