News 12:00

BULLETIN 29 October 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# COPE calls on president Cyril Ramaphosa to dismiss the Free State premier
# The DA in Gauteng says Panyaza Lesufi must publicise the findings on 230-thousand-rand’s fruitless and wasteful expenditure
# And cricket: Taijul Islam vows Bangladesh will bounce back in the second Test against South Africa

# COPE in Free State is calling on president Cyril Ramaphosa to dismiss premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae. COPE’s Nathane Makalo says under the premier, the Department of Health has dismissed over one-thousand-300 nursing assistants. He adds while the party calls for clinics to operate 24 hours per day and urges the national government to regulate this proposal, Letsoha-Mathae appears more focused on firing health workers:

# The DA in Gauteng demands that premier Panyaza Lesufi publicise the findings on the investigation of the 230-thousand-rand in fruitless and wasteful expenditure from the Department of Finance. The DA’s Madeleine Hicklin says this will ensure that consequence management is implemented against officials contravening regulations of the Public Finance Management Act. She says this will set an example that public funds must not be used in vain:

# German car manufacturer Volkswagen announced plans to lay off tens of thousands of staff, shut at least three factories in the country, and shrink the remaining plants to cut costs and revamp its business model. Europe’s biggest carmaker didn’t specify which plants would be affected or how many of the about 300-thousand staff members will be made redundant. Reuters reports Volkswagen’s management is under severe pressure from high energy and labour costs, stiff competition from Asian countries, weakened demand in Europe and China, and a slower-than-expected electric transition.

# Owner Jeff Bezos has defended Washington Post’s decision not to endorse an American presidential candidate. For decades, the editorial board, which is separate from the journalists who work there, has backed a prospective president. Bezos, who is also CEO of Amazon, argues that publishing an endorsement, a draft of which was reported to have recommended Kamala Harris, would undermine readers’ trust in the paper’s integrity. The decision has been met with ferocious backlash, with an estimated 200-thousand readers cancelling their subscriptions.

# Cricket: Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam says his team is determined to level the series against South Africa in the second and final Test which started in Chattogram this morning, after a crushing seven-wicket defeat in the opener. Taijul says their only goal is to win the match. The South Africans are eyeing a series clean sweep to propel them up the World Test Championship table. The Proteas are fifth in the standings and Bangladesh eighth. South Africa is batting first and went to 205 for one at teatime, with Tony de Zorzi undefeated at 101.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 19-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-97-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-585-dollars-1-cent. Gold sells at two-thousand-750-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-91-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….