News 08:00

BULLETIN 29 November 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Deputy president Mashatile says South Africa is committed to peace and social justice globally
# Rise Mzansi says next year’s national dialogue cannot be another talk shop
# And officials conduct a surprise raid at the infamous Mangaung Correctional Centre

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile says South Africa is committed to its non-alignment stance in conflict and prioritising social justice, peace, and development worldwide. He delivered the keynote at the second annual Cape Town Conversation organised by the Thabo Mbeki Foundation. Mashatile says the government has demonstrated its appreciation and commitment to peace by taking Israel to the International Court of Justice, because of the crimes committed against the people of Palestine particularly in Gaza:

# Rise Mzansi says the national dialogue set to be held early next year, cannot be just another event or talk shop if government is serious about building the country citizens deserve. The dialogue aims to discuss the critical challenges facing the country. Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi says the national dialogue must understand the current political, social, and economic context. He adds that the dialogue will also require political maturity, especially from the ANC and DA who, almost weekly, are engaged in public spats. 

# Department of Correctional Services officials conducted a surprise search at Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein yesterday evening. This follows the launch of Operation Vala to improve safety, security and compliance in correctional facilities during the festive season. The prison, managed by private security company G4S, is where convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester escaped from in 2022. The department’s national commissioner, Makgothi Thobakgale, says during the search they found various contrabands, cellphones, and money:

# Russian president Vladimir Putin has threatened to strike Ukraine again with a new nuclear-capable ballistic missile called Oreshnik. The threats are a response to a decision by the US, Britain, and France to allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles provided by them against military targets inside Moscow. Ukraine used Atacms and UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to strike inside Russian territory last week. In response, Russia launched a comprehensive strike on Kyiv’s energy grid on Wednesday evening. Putin says they will continue to respond to the ongoing strikes on Russian territory.

# Motorsport: British driver Lando Norris disagrees with Dutchman Max Verstappen’s belief that he would have won the Formula One world championship even if he was driving a McLaren or a Ferrari. The Red Bull driver clinched his fourth F1 world championship last Saturday in Las Vegas with two rounds remaining in the season. McLaren’s Norris, who was Verstappen’s sole remaining challenger in the title race, says Red Bull had the fastest car in most races this season:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-6-cents and the euro at 19-rand-8-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-648-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-657-dollars-36-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-68-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….