News 11:00

BULLETIN 12 November 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF criticises the government over the billions spent on the printing of exam papers
# Shamila Batohi says the NPA won’t be forced to prosecute state capture cases
# And rugby: The Blitzboks coach is focused on squad depth

# The EFF has criticised the Department of Basic Education’s decision to allow provincial departments to outsource the printing of national senior certificate exam papers to private companies. This has resulted in the total cost of printing increasing from less than one-billion-rand to 3.6-billion-rand. The EFF’s spokesperson, Leigh-Ann Mathys, says it is clear that this decision was driven by the DA’s privatisation agenda under minister Siviwe Gwarube:

# National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi says the National Prosecuting Authority will not be pressured into prosecuting state capture-related cases. Last year, one of the biggest state capture case, was the 2.2-billion-rand corruption case against former Eskom boss Matshela Koko and others, which was struck off the roll due to unreasonable delays. Batohi says they have adopted a strategic prioritisation project, with state capture cases only amounting to 0.01-percent of the NPA’s work.

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has authorised the Special Investigating Unit to probe allegations of maladministration regarding the procurement of goods and services by the Gauteng Department of Health. This concerns two contracts, namely the supply and delivery of orthopaedic implants and arthroscopy items, and the supply and delivery of three-division plastic containers. The SIU says the investigation will include the manipulation of the department’s supply chain management processes by service providers, officials, or other third parties, often in collusion with department employees.

# New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon made a historic apology to thousands of survivors who endured physical, sexual, verbal, or psychological abuse in state and faith-based care. The apology comes after a report found that 200-thousand children and vulnerable adults had suffered abuse while in state and faith-based care between 1950 and 2019. Many of them included people from the Māori and Pacific communities. Luxon described the abuse as horrific and heartbreaking:

# Rugby: Springbok Sevens coach Philip Snyman says he is looking to build squad depth heading into the upcoming World Sevens Series campaign. The Blitzboks will be without captain Selvyn Davids and Tiaan Pretorius for at least the first two tournaments in Dubai and Cape Town due to injury. Rosko Specman has stepped away from the sevens programme, while Justin Geduld has moved into the Stormers set-up. Snyman says they have several strong and experienced leaders in the squad:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-99-cents and the euro at 19-rand-12-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-8-cents and Bitcoin trades at 89-thousand-428-dollars-7-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-607-dollars-13-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-66-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….