News 09:00

BULLETIN 9 December 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Mbeki says renewal is critical for the ANC’s survival
# More than one-thousand-400 illegal miners have resurfaced in North West
# And golf: The American Johannes Veerman wins the Nedbank Golf Challenge

# Former president Thabo Mbeki says the renewal process within the ANC is critical for its survival. He addressed the ANC’s Dullah Omar region in the Western Cape yesterday during a discussion, titled, Challenges facing the ANC and the National Democratic Revolution. Mbeki says the party must do serious introspection on whether it still commands enough capacity to lead the country:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on High Education has criticised the lack of system integration between universities and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. This as the Special Investigations Unit has recovered 1.7-billion-rand in unallocated funds from institutions of higher learning. This was part of its investigation into allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of NSFAS. Committee chairperson, Tebogo Letsie, says the biggest casualties are the students, and the devastating impact on their lives when funding fails them.

# Police say up until Friday, one-thousand-420 illegal miners resurfaced at various abandoned mine shafts in Stilfontein, North West. as Operation Vala Umgodi continues. The province has rich platinum deposits, as well as chromite, coal, uranium, gold, and diamonds. Police spokesperson, Adéle Myburgh says efforts are ongoing to ensure that those who remain underground resurface, and they will continue to stamp the authority of the state without fear or favour:

# Ghana’s former president John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress, has vowed to reset the nation on a path for good governance and accountability. He won a historic comeback election victory, ending the New Patriotic Party’s eight years in power under president Nana Akufo-Addo. Opinion polls had predicted a victory for Mahama, amid widespread discontent over the country’s economy and a crisis over illegal gold mining. Vice-president, Mahamudu Bawumia has conceded defeat ahead of a formal announcement by the Electoral Commission.

# Golf: American golfer Johannes Veerman claimed his second European tour title by winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge by one shot at Sun City. The 32-year-old closed with a 69 for a total of five under par. South African Aldrich Potgieter finished a shot back in tied-second alongside England’s Matthew Jordan and France’s Romain Langasque. Defending champion American Max Homa closed with a 75 and was tied for 14th, five shots behind the winner. Veerman says to win is indescribable:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-3-cents and the euro at 19-rand-7-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 99-thousand-264-dollars-2-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-633-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 7-dollars a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….