News 12:00

BULLETIN 20 November 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The public are urged not to disturb the registration process of spaza shops
# Motorsport: Lando Norris believes McLaren can still win both Formula One championships
# And consumers are warned not to get swept up in the hype of Black Friday

# Government is urging the public not to disturb the process of the registration of spaza shops and other small and medium business enterprises, by blocking certain owners from participating. All spaza shops and food handling facilities have been given 21 days to register with municipalities. This is one of the interventions being implemented to address the current outbreak of foodborne illnesses and illicit trade. The Health Department’s spokesperson, Foster Mohale, says government will make every effort to assist business owners:

# National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza has declined Build One South Africa’s formal request for a parliamentary debate on the country’s unemployment crisis. She deemed the issue not urgent enough to warrant immediate attention. BOSA’s acting spokesperson, Roger Solomons, says this is an unfortunate decision that affects the eleven-million jobless citizens. He adds that unemployment is a national crisis:

# US antitrust officials from the Department of Justice are urging a judge to mandate Google’s sale of its Chrome browser, citing monopoly concerns. This follows an August ruling that Google illegally dominated the search market. According to Business Insider, the proposal, if approved, could reshape the online search and artificial intelligence industries. Officials also advocate for stricter regulations for Google’s data practices and Android integration. Google has criticised the move, warning of harm to innovation. A final decision is expected by August next year.

# Motorsport: British Formula One driver Lando Norris says he is convinced that McLaren is still capable of achieving a drivers’ and constructors’ title double this year. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen holds a 62-point lead over Norris entering the final three races in Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi. In the constructors’ championship McLaren has a 36-point lead over Ferrari, with third-placed Red Bull a further 13 points back. Norris says everyone’s motivated to fight for both championships.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-12-cents and the euro at 19-rand-16-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 93-thousand-112-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-622-dollars-97-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-28-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Consumers are being warned to be aware of the different marketing tactics used on Black Friday, particularly the rise of ambush marketing. According to BankServ Africa, their 3D-Secure service recorded 1.4-million Black Friday transactions in 2023, amounting to 1.39-billion-rand. This is a 17-percent increase from 2022. MANCOSA School of Public Administration programmer leader, Nestene Botha, says consumers must be cautious and avoid getting swept up in the hype:

Stay tuned for more news………….