News 07:00

BULLETIN 18 December 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Save SA urges president Ramaphosa to activate Clauses 4 and 5 of the BELA Act
# The Acting Joburg mayor is satisfied with the city’s water upgrade
# And cricket: England Women secure a dominant Test victory against South Africa

# Save South Africa has called on president Cyril Ramaphosa to prioritise the activation of clauses 4 and 5 of the Basic Education Laws Amendment or BELA Act, warning that delays could harm the Class of 2025. The group criticised the DA’s alleged misinformation on Afrikaans in schools, emphasising that all languages are equal. Save SA’s Tebogo Mashilompane advocates for non-racial, inclusive education and condemns apartheid-era segregation practices:

Meanwhile, the GOOD Party has accused the DA of hypocrisy for implementing the BELA Act’s provisions in Tulbagh, Western Cape, while publicly opposing it. This follows Education MEC David Maynier’s confirmation that Hoërskool Tulbagh will become a dual-medium school next year to accommodate English-speaking learners from overcrowded township schools. GOOD secretary general Brett Herron, argues the DA’s federal chairperson Helen Zille’s vocal opposition to the act exposes their anti-BELA campaign as misleading:

# Acting Johannesburg mayor, Nomoya Mnisi, has expressed satisfaction with the successful upgrade to the metro’s water infrastructure over the weekend by Johannesburg Water and Rand Water. Rand Water performed maintenance on its Eikenhof and Zwartkopjes pump stations, which lasted 86 hours and left many without water. The water utility has warned that the system will take a few days to recover. Mnisi says these critical improvements are part of ongoing efforts to ensure a more reliable and sustainable water supply for residents.

# Ministers from South Africa and Mozambique will today tour the Lebombo port of entry in Mpumalanga as part of their bilateral talks. The port is severely disrupted by Mozambique’s post-election violence, which led to its temporary closure last week, leaving freight trucks stranded in long queues for several days. International Relations and Cooperation ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri says the tour aims to boost cooperation on security, trade, and border control:

# Cricket: England Women defeated South Africa by 286 runs in a one-off Test match in Bloemfontein. Nonkululeko Mlaba took six wickets for 67 runs as the Proteas bowled out the visitors for 236 in their second innings. Captain Heather Knight scored 90. In reply, chasing 351 to win, the hosts crumbled to 64 all out, their lowest-ever Test score. England also won the T20 and ODI series against South Africa.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-7-cents and the euro at 18-rand-98-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-98-cents and Bitcoin trades at 106-thousand-31-dollar-30-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-647-dollars a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-29-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….