News 08:00

BULLETIN 24 December 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Information Regulator issues a 5-million-rand infringement notice to Basic Education
# The UDM expresses concern over rising road accidents and gender-based violence
# And, stormy weather forms part of some festive activities across South Africa

# The Information Regulator issued an Infringement Notice to the Department of Basic Education in which it ordered the department to pay an administrative fine of 5-million-rand, for violating an Enforcement Notice issued on 18 November 2024. The notice prohibited publishing 2024 matric results in newspapers, which the department failed to comply with. Despite having the option to appeal, the department did not provide any communication by the deadline. The regulator says the fine must be paid within 30 days from 23 December 2024.

# The United Democratic Movement has raised alarm over rising road accidents and gender-based violence since the first of December. Road fatalities have increased by three-percent, with pedestrians accounting for 49-percent of deaths. Reports of escalating GBV cases on social media further highlight safety concerns. Acting secretary-general Zandile Phiri, has urged South Africans to drive cautiously, and act against gender-based violence, and foster a safer society:

# Almost three-quarters of Ukrainians support the idea of the country restoring its nuclear weapons. A new poll carried out by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology between 2 and 17 December, spoke to two-thousand people living in Ukraine-controlled territories. Almost half of the respondents said they would support the development of nuclear weapons even at the price of losing Western aid and coming under sanctions. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry said last month that Kyiv does not possess, develop or intend to acquire nuclear weapons.

# Rugby: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu trained with the Stormers on Monday and is expected to be available for Saturday’s return United Rugby Championship derby against the Sharks at the Cape Town Stadium. The Springbok limped off in this past weekend’s 29-10 win over the Lions with what was diagnosed as a hip pointer injury. The Stormers will train today and take Christmas and Boxing Day off before Friday’s captain’s practice. The team for the Sharks clash will be announced on Friday. More than 30-thousand tickets for the game have already been sold.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-55-cents and the euro at 19-rand-29-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-94-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-619-dollars-25-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-61-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The South African Weather Service says it still expects damaging winds and flash flooding across South Africa for several of the year’s remaining days. Forecaster Samkelisiwe Twala says there is a 60-percent chance for showers and thundershowers in Mpumalanga and Free State today, with an 80-percent chance across Limpopo, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, possibly accompanied by disruptive rain and localised flooding. However, the south-western interior will remain clear with warm conditions:

Stay tuned for more news………….