News 08:00

BULLETIN 21 October 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says coalitions constrain service delivery
# Rand Water will help with the Bronkhorstspruit water crisis
# And, Zelensky says the US has resumed sharing intelligence

# ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa says that while they strengthen democracy, coalition governments often make it hard for mayors and municipal committees to deliver services effectively. Following the 2021 local government elections, the number of hung councils jumped to 66, forcing the ANC into minority, coalition, or opposition arrangements across several major metros. Ramaphosa says the local government system faced serious challenges, but argues that these should not be used to paint everyone in government with the same brush. He adds that people are crying out for good governance.

# RISE Mzansi says after years of careful mismanagement and methodically executed corruption, most municipalities have fallen into different levels of dysfunction, including metros where tens of millions of South Africans live. The party has unveiled its governance plan for seven municipalities it will contest in the November local government elections, including Johannesburg and Tshwane. RISE Mzansi’s Makashule Gana says the plan rests on six commitments: reliable infrastructure, dignity in every ward, safe streets, clean governance, spatial justice, and a living city:

# Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya says she has engaged Rand Water to provide technical expertise and support in accelerating the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works. The metro supplied unchlorinated water for three weeks without warning communities in Bronkhorstspruit that it was unsafe, as 408 people reported gastrointestinal illness. Moya says Rand Water is developing an implementation plan, including assessing whether the plant should be isolated for a further period to allow essential work:

# Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says the US has resumed sharing intelligence with Kyiv on warnings of Russian ballistic missile attacks. This follows a meeting yesterday in Norway with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Finnish president Alexander Stubbin. The meeting came after accusations by Kyiv that Washington was withholding key intelligence – a claim rejected as “scandalous” by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Zelensky says the meeting was productive:

# Tennis: World number nine Iga Swiatek of Poland won’t participate in the Ningbo Open in China, where she hoped to earn vital points towards qualifying for the season finals in November. She, Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine are battling it out for the final place in the year-end tournament in Indian Wells. Swiatek says she is experiencing an ongoing problem with her left thigh and realised she needed time to rest and recover. Anastasia Zakharova of Russia will take her place in China.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-39-cents and the euro at 18-rand-40-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-93-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 82-thousand-664-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-119-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 111-dollars-71-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….