News 07:00

BULLETIN 16 November 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa orders the immediate closure of spaza shops linked to the deaths of children
# Trump says Robert F Kennedy Junior will do unbelievable things as Health secretary
# And rugby: The Boks and England meet at Twickenham for the 24th time

# President Cyril Rampahosa addressed the nation last night on the deaths of at least 22 school children from food-borne illnesses. To prevent future deaths, Ramaphosa announced that spaza shops linked to the deaths of the children will be closed immediately. Ramaphosa further directed that joint operational and intelligence structures be established at a national and provincial level to deal with the crisis. He said a highly hazardous chemical used as a pesticide known as Terbufos was directly linked to the deaths of six children in Naledi, Soweto.

The president added that the unregulated use of restricted pesticides in communities has become a growing problem, with devastating consequences. He says as part of the investigation into the deaths of six children in Naledi, inspectors confiscated a number of illegal pesticides from spaza shops:

Regarding non-compliant businesses and shops linked to any poisoning incidents or found to unlawfully stock hazardous chemicals the president said they would be closed. A massive campaign of door-to-door inspection of all spaza shops, tuck shops and other informal traders will be undertaken, starting with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Ramaphosa says this will be undertaken by inter-disciplinary inspections teams:

# American president-elect Donald Trump says Robert F Kennedy Junior will do unbelievable things as his new Health secretary. The former Democrat had been running as an independent presidential candidate but dropped out of the race to endorse Trump. In return Trump pledged to give him a big role. Kennedy is a known vaccine sceptic who has repeated misinformation on multiple occasions, including the discredited theory that childhood immunisations cause autism. His appointment will need to be confirmed with a Senate vote and may face opposition because of his views on health issues.

# And rugby: The statistics won’t help to predict the outcome when South Africa and England meet at Twickenham in London for the 24th time today. The  Springboks have won 12 of the previous matches and the hosts 11. One of the earliest encounters between the two countries, in 1932, produced a world record that still stands to this day. Springbok winger Jerry Brand kicked a dropgoal which measured a whopping 77.7-metres from the point of impact to where it landed in the stands. The Boks won 7-nil.

Stay tuned for more news………….