News 11:00

BULLETIN 26 October 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA believes it is on track to emerge as the largest party in many major metros
# Ramaphosa says government is addressing the country’s water challenges
# And cricket: Australia is looking to turn their batting form around in the final Test against the Proteas

# The DA’s internal polling data places the party at 28.4-percent, just 1.2 percentage points behind the ANC ahead of next Wednesday’s local government elections. The data was compiled from a daily telephone tracking poll to produce a four-week rolling average. It shows the DA as the biggest party in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Mangaung, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Cape Town. Spokesperson Jan de Villiers says the elections present an opportunity to translate this momentum into a historic electoral result:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says government is addressing the country’s water challenges, which is why he established the National Water Crisis Committee. He was speaking during the ANC’s door-to-door campaign in Soweto. The committee is working to ensure a coordinated approach to the institutional and financial reforms necessary to achieve water security. Ramaphosa says the immediate challenge is not mainly a shortage of rain or a lack of dams, but municipal water systems not being properly managed, maintained and financed:

Deputy president Mashatile will visit Bronkhorstspruit in Tshwane today following the water contamination crisis that has left over 400 people affected by gastrointestinal illness. This forms part of the work of the inter-ministerial committee on Water and Sanitation. Mashatile will visit the water treatment works and receive an update on the condition of infrastructure. He will also engage with relevant authorities on the measures being implemented to restore the safety and reliability of the water supply, and visit patients in hospital.

Moving abroad:

# Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has stressed the need for robust security guarantees for Kyiv in any deal aimed at ending the war. A meeting between Ukraine, the US and Russia is expected to be held next month in a bid to revive negotiations. Zelensky says they are ready to talk, emphasising if it’s a territorial issue, it must be addressed at leadership level, while other issues fall within the remit of the technical groups. He adds restrictions on Ukraine’s Army and neutrality are not up for discussion.

# Cricket: Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey says they are keen to turn their batting form around and provide a team-wide contribution in the deciding Test against the Proteas, starting in Cape Town tomorrow. After the first-innings collapse for 99 in the second Test in Gqeberha, Australia’s lowest first-innings score since 2016, coach Andrew McDonald bemoaned that the batting order was unable to soak up pressure for long enough. Carey admits their batting wasn’t up to standard:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-61-cents and the euro at 18-rand-63-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-22-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-50-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-8-dollars-4-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 115-dollars-38-sents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….