News 08:00

BULLETIN 4 December 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA says the redeployment of minister Simelane is disrespectful
# The Public Servants Association is concerned by the dire state of Tembisa Hospital
# And Donald Trump’s lawyers request the dismissal of his hush-money case

# The DA says president Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to remove Thembi Simelane as minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and redeploy her as minister of Human Settlements, is short-sighted and disrespectful to South Africans. There has been mounting pressure for the president to remove her after it emerged she received a loan from a company that benefited from VBS Mutual Bank, while she was Polokwane mayor. The DA’s, Glynnis Breytenbach, says Simelane does not belong in Cabinet:

Meanwhile, ActionSA rejects Ramaphosa’s last-ditch Cabinet reshuffle, redeploying the disgraced Simelane. The president has been under growing pressure to act after reports of Simelane’s loan with collapsed VBS Mutual Bank. ActionSA’s Athol Trollip says they won’t accept Ramaphosa’s attempt to shield Simelane from facing true accountability:

# The Public Servants Association has expressed concern at the dire state of the Tembisa Hospital’s infrastructure, a shortage of essential resources, and unsafe working conditions. The association says the hospital’s casualty department is perpetually overcrowded, with patients waiting for days to receive care. It is also alarmed by the lack of security with psychiatric patients roaming unsecured, whilst high-risk equipment, such as oxygen cylinders, are not locked away. The association is calling on the Gauteng Health Department to develop a comprehensive action plan to address these challenges.

# US president-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss his Manhattan hush-money case. New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office successfully prosecuted Trump earlier this year, for falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Last month, Judge Juan Merchan postponed Trump’s sentencing indefinitely so lawyers could argue over its future, following his re-election. Special counsel Jack Smith dropped Trump’s two federal criminal cases, citing a policy that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted.  

# Soccer: Wales have qualified for the first major women’s tournament in their nation’s history, next year’s European Championship in Switzerland, after beating Ireland two-one in Dublin. Goals from Hannah Cain and Carrie Jones earned Wales a three-two aggregate victory after a one-all draw at home in the first leg last week. Meanwhile, Sweden thrashed Serbia six-nil to complete an eight-nil aggregate victory and qualify for the Euros. Wales manager, Rhian Wilkinson, says her team is special:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-15-cents and the euro at 19-rand-5-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-97-cents and Bitcoin trades at 95-thousand-788-dollars-55-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-645-dollars-69-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-71-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….