News 08:00

BULLETIN 10 November 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# SALGA says coalition arrangements must promote stability and accountability
# High water use is slowing the recovery of the reservoirs in Tshwane
# And, Trump defends Defence Secretary Hegseth

# The South African Local Government Association has urged political parties to put communities ahead of political interests as they prepare to form municipal councils. Following the local government elections, there are 138 hung councils in municipalities where no political party received an outright majority, and where coalitions will have to be negotiated. SALGA’s spokesperson Motalatale Modiba says coalition arrangements must promote stability, accountability, effective oversight and continuity in service delivery, rather than lead to political instability that weakens municipal performance:

# Aluma Capital chief economist Frederick Mitchell says South Africa being removed from the African Growth and Opportunity Act means the country loses a competitive edge in niche exports and puts thousands of jobs at risk. In 2025, a total of 89-percent of South African exports to the United States entered under ordinary trade terms, while about ten-percent entered under AGOA, down from 28-percent in 2024. Mitchell says government cannot afford to “sleepwalk” through the crisis and must negotiate pragmatic bilateral trade solutions and address mutual security and policy concerns.

# The City of Tshwane says persistently high water consumption continues to slow recovery across several reservoirs in the metro. Areas affected include Mamelodi, Montana, Mabopane, Soshanguve, Ga-Rankuwa and Winterveldt. The metro’s spokesperson, Lindela Mashigo, says water supply at the Atteridgeville High-Level Reservoir is critically low, with technical teams attending to the system. He says Tshwane continues to balance water supply across the affected areas while implementing controlled restrictions where necessary:

# President Donald Trump has criticised Republican Congressman Thomas Massie for introducing articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth. Massie has accused Hegseth of illegally waging war against Iran without congressional authorisation and abusing the powers of his office. The effort will likely fail, as Republicans remain in power in Congress until January. Massie’s introduction of the articles of impeachment means a vote will have to happen by tomorrow. Hegseth has called the impeachment effort a “sham”. Trump says he will stand by Hegseth:

# Tennis: World number two Aryna Sabalenka got off to a winning start at the WTA Finals in Indian Wells, as she bids for her first season-ending title in her sixth appearance. The Belarusian, who struggled with her serve, battled past Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, 7-6, 7-5 in Group two. French Open champion Mirra Andreeva of Russia enjoyed a much more routine win to start her tournament, easing past Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, 6-4, 6-0. Andreeva will face Sabalenka next.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-37-cents and the euro at 18-rand-37-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-1-cent, and Bitcoin trades at 74-thousand-658-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-114-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 94-dollars-24-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….