News 08:00

BULLETIN 3 January 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Eastern Cape Education Department will continue to intensify sex education in schools
# The Limpopo Education MEC calls on parents to motivate grade 12 learners ahead of the matric results release
# And Motorsport: Giniel de Villiers is ready for his final Dakar Rally

# Eastern Cape MEC for Health, Ntandokazi Capa says her department will work with stakeholders and continue to intensify sex education in schools, in a bid to ensure the youth can make informed decisions. The MEC’s spokesperson, Mkhululi Ndamase says Capa is concerned about a 12-year-old girl being one of the new mothers giving birth on New Year’s Day:

# Limpopo MEC for Education, Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya has expressed confidence in the 2024 Matric class as thousands of learners eagerly await the release of their results on the 13th of January. She says Limpopo is aiming for a pass rate above 80-percent from the 79.54-percent achieved in 2023. Lerule-Ramakhanya is calling on parents and guardians to motivate and support their children ahead of the release of the results:

# Gauteng NPO, Jozi My Jozi, is working to complete unfinished projects at Constitution Hill ahead of the 2025 G20 Summit. These include the Visitor’s Centre and People’s Park. Both projects, primarily aimed at enhancing the precinct’s tourism and heritage value, were halted in 2023 due to contractor issues. Jozi My Jozi, in partnership with the City of Johannesburg, seeks to use these developments for urban regeneration, with the People’s Park planned to be completed by June.

# The FBI now believes no-one else was involved in the deadly New Orleans attack on New Year’s Day, other than Shamsud-Din Jabbar. Fourteen people were killed and at least 35 wounded after a pick-up truck drove into busy crowds. Jabbar was killed in a shoot-out with police during the attack. Before the attack Jabbar posted videos online proclaiming his allegiance to the Islamic State group. The FBI also says there is currently no definitive link” with the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas hours later.

# Motorsport: South African Giniel de Villiers is looking to finish his Dakar Rally career on a high. For the 2025 edition of the world’s toughest motorsport event, Toyota Gazoo Racing SA will field a four-car team driven by four South African drivers. De Villiers enjoys a remarkable record at the Dakar Rally, with 22 finishes, 20 of which were in the top 10. For the 2025 race, he will be competing alongside Dirk von Zitzewitz, the co-driver who helped him secure victory in 2009. The event kicks off in Saudi Arabia today.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-69-cents and the euro at 19-rand-19-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-861-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-662-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-4-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….