News 08:00

BULLETIN 6 December 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# McKinsey will pay South Africa over two-billion-rand for its role in state capture
# More than 50-thousand illegal miners have been arrested through Operation Vala Umgodi
# And the French president says he won’t resign

# The South African arm of the US multinational management consulting firm, McKinsey and Company, has agreed to pay South Africa around 2.2-billion-rand for its role in state capture. A US Federal Court confirmed this. The National Prosecuting Authority says McKinsey has admitted, accepted, and acknowledged responsibility for the criminal actions and conduct of its former partner, Vikas Sagar, whose corrupt actions landed the company contracts with Transnet and Eskom, worth almost two-billion-rand. McKinsey says it will continue to cooperate with US and South African authorities.

# The Employment Equity Amendment Act will take effect from the first of next month, easing requirements for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. These businesses will no longer need to submit employment equity reports, helping them focus on growth and job creation. The Department of Employment and Labour spokesperson Thobeka Magcai says the amendments are expected to reduce compliance costs and empower businesses to set their own annual Employment Equity targets:

# National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola says more than 50-thousand illegal miners have been arrested in different provinces since the establishment of Operation Vala Umgodi a year ago. He visited Sabie in Mpumalanga and Stilfontein in North West yesterday to monitor ongoing operations to rescue illegal miners underground. Masemola says seven provinces have been identified as hotspots for illegal mining:

# Embattled French president Emmanuel Macron has rejected opposition pressure to resign, saying he will stay in office until the end of his term in 2027. He gave a televised address to the nation yesterday, vowing to appoint a new prime minister in the coming days. This comes after Michel Barnier resigned following a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday. Macron criticised the cynicism, lack of responsibility, and sense of chaos of the left-wing and far-right factions that united to bring down the government.

# Soccer: Mamelodi Sundowns has been drawn in Group F alongside Brazil’s Fluminense, German giants Borussia Dortmund, and South Korea’s Ulsan for the 2025 Fifa Club World Cup. Defending champions Manchester City will face Juventus, Morocco’s Wydad AC and Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in Group G. Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami will kick off the tournament against Egyptian side Al Ahly. The competition, which has been expanded to 32 clubs, will take place from the 15th of June to the 13th of July in the US.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-2-cents and the euro at 19-rand-6-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 97-thousand-423-dollars-71-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-628-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-4-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….