News 09:00

BULLETIN 13 November 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA calls for a state of emergency over the food poisoning crisis
# The World Food Programme warns 33-million Nigerians could go hungry in 2025
# And golf: The Austrian and Turkish Opens and the Nedbank Challenge are returning to the DP World Tour

# ActionSA has urged president Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a state of emergency following increased food poisoning incidents. Addressing parliament, ActionSA’s Athol Trollip confirmed that twelve families have buried their children, and hundreds have been hospitalised. The affected children allegedly bought products from spaza shops. He emphasised that poor communities are the most affected and called for swift action to prevent this escalating crisis:

Parliament’s Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade meanwhile says the government of national unity must move with speed to address food poisoning cases related to spaza shops. Gauteng alone has recorded over 400 cases and 23 deaths. Over 200 have also taken ill in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and the Eastern Cape. The committee’s chairperson, Sonja Boshoff, says national departments must coordinate a response strategy. She adds that it would be unfortunate if the debate turned into an excuse to commit xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals.

# KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has ordered an immediate investigation and disciplinary steps to be taken against a police officer seen assaulting a civilian in Durban. In a video, the officer can be seen assaulting a person who seemingly did not pose any danger to him. Police spokesperson, Robert Netshiunda, says they cannot allow a situation where the gains of hard-working police officers are reversed by the unprofessional conduct of certain individuals within its ranks:

# Record inflation, climate shocks, and ongoing conflicts are projected to push the number of food insecure people in Nigeria to 33-million in 2025. This represents a sharp increase from the 25-million who need assistance today. This is according to the United Nations World Food Programme. It says 5.4-million children and 800-thousand pregnant and breastfeeding women face the threat of acute malnutrition or wasting. The WFP says immediate support is needed to avert a potential food and nutrition disaster.

# Golf: Austrian and Turkish Opens return to DP World Tour’s 2025 schedule, as does the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa. A minimum of 42 tournaments will take place across 26 countries over the year-round season. The European tour returns to Turkey for the first time since 2019 and to Austria for the first time since 2021. DP World Tour’s chief executive, Guy Kinnings, says the 2025 schedule once again demonstrates and celebrates the truly global nature of the Tour.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-8-cents and the euro at 19-rand-20-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-4-cents and Bitcoin trades at 87-thousand-569-dollars-5-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-609-dollars-49-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-9-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….