News 07:00

BULLETIN 12 November 7 am

Good morning/Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AfriForum sees an opportunity for change with the withdrawal of the SABC Bill
# The Kremlin denies reports that Trump urged Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine
# And Jamie Oliver pulls his children’s book from sale

# AfriForum is urging minister Solly Malatsi to consider increased privatisation of the SABC following the withdrawal of the SABC Bill, which aimed to address the broadcaster’s financial issues. AfriForum’s head of Public Relations, Ernst van Zyl, says the organisation shares Malatsi’s sentiments, stating that the Bill failed to address the SABC’s fundamental need for a viable funding model. He also supports scrapping TV licenses:

# The IFP has welcomed minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, gazetting a new standard draft by-law for township economies. The by-law aims to create an enabling environment for small businesses in townships, supporting economic inclusion, job creation and community empowerment. The IFP says the by-law will also regulate foreign-owned businesses in townships, and balance the citizens’ business rights with consumers’ rights. It adds that this will address the crisis of contaminated or expired food in local spaza shops, which has resulted in deaths.

# The DA in Gauteng says Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero and his leadership under the ActionSA-EFF-ANC coalition should be embarrassed, that two cabinet ministers were forced to intervene in the affairs of the metro. Minister of Electricity and Energy, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, and Water and Sanitation minister, Pemmy Majodina, met with the Johannesburg leadership yesterday, over the metro’s Eskom debt and the water crisis. The DA’s, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, says City Power and Johannesburg Water have been destroyed by an inept executive:

# The Kremlin has denied reports that US president-elect Donald Trump held a call with president Vladimir Putin last week, in which the Russian leader was told not to escalate the war in Ukraine. According to the Washington Post, during the call, Trump reminded Putin of Washington’s sizeable military presence in Europe. It added that Trump expressed interest in follow-up conversations soon to look into the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. The Kremlin says the reports are pure fiction.

# Rugby: There is doubt over the fitness of former All Blacks captain Sam Cane for this coming weekend’s clash with France in Paris. He suffered a deep wound to his head during the victory over England which required stitches and a head injury assessment. Lock Sam Darry has returned home after sustaining a knee injury during training. Head coach Scott Robertson believes flyhalf Beauden Barrett and hooker Codie Taylor will be fit after missing the England match due to concussion.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-94-cents and the euro at 19-rand-9-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-6-cents and Bitcoin trades at 88-thousand-926-dollar-90-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-624-dollars-28-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-81-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has pulled his new children’s book from the shelves after complaints that it stereotyped Indigenous Australians. The fantasy novel Billy and the Epic Escape features an Aboriginal girl with mystical powers living in foster care, who is abducted from her home in central Australia. The book’s publisher, Penguin Random House UK, said Oliver had requested Indigenous Australians be consulted over the book, but an “editorial oversight” meant that did not happen. The publisher said in a statement its publishing standards fell short and the company should learn from that.

Stay tuned for more news………….