News 11:00

BULLETIN 14 January 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Sadtu is concerned about the decline in performance in key gateway subjects
# Active firefighting continues into the eighth day in the Cape Winelands District Municipality
# And golf: Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith commit to stay with LIV Golf

# The South African Democratic Teachers Union has expressed concern at the decline in performance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Only 34-percent of the 2025 matric candidates wrote the pure mathematics exam, while the majority opted for mathematical literacy. The maths pass rate dropped from 69 to 64-percent. Sadtu’s general secretary, Mugwena Maluleke, says gateway subjects provide greater career opportunities:

# The Cape Winelands District Municipality says active firefighting is continuing into the eighth day of the Wemmershoek fire in Franschhoek. Spokesperson Anesca Roodt says cooler weather aided overnight suppression efforts, and several flare-ups were attended to. She says active fire lines continue to burn in dangerous and inaccessible areas above Mount Rochelle and the Stettynskloof Dam:

# The Freedom Front Plus in Johannesburg has strongly condemned the Metro’s intention to force residents with prepaid meters who have invested in solar power to switch back to conventional meter readings and billing systems. The party says should the ANC-led administration proceed with this plan, it may be time to approach the courts. Spokesperson Franco de Lange says this amounts to consumer sabotage:

Moving abroad:

# At least 12 people have been killed after a construction crane fell onto a moving train in northeastern Thailand this morning, causing it to derail and catch fire. Police say the death toll is expected to keep rising, with at least 40 people injured. Rescuers are continuing their search through the damaged and derailed carriages. The train was travelling through the Sikhio district, 230 kilometres northeast of Bangkok, when the incident took place. The crane was involved in a construction project to build an elevated high-speed road through the region.

# Golf: American Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm of Spain and Australia’s Cam Smith have committed to stay with LIV Golf this year. This comes after Brooks Koepka announced his departure after four seasons with the Saudi-backed circuit. He will make a return to the PGA Tour. Smith, the 2022 Open winner, says he will stay with LIV for years to come:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-35-cents and the euro at 19-rand-5-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-936-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-634-dollars-89-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-54-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….