News 12:00

BULLETIN 17 December 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# RISE Mzansi is shocked by SAPS paying out almost 2-billion-rand for wrongful arrests and assault
# SAFTU condemns the appointment of McKinsey and Bains
# And cricket: England suffers a heavy defeat against New Zealand in the third and final Test

# RISE Mzansi says it is alarmed that between the 2020/2021 and 2023/2024 financial years, the South African Police Service paid almost two-billion-rand to claimants of wrongful arrest and injury in police custody. This was revealed by Police minister Senzo Mchunu, in a response to a parliamentary question. RISE Mzansi’s, Makashule Gana, says the minister was unable to state who the money ultimately ended up with, as the current system does not distinguish between a South African and a foreign national:

# The South African Federation of Trade Unions demands that all contracts with disgraced McKinsey, and Bain and Company, and any other corrupt consultancy be cancelled. McKinsey was appointed as a supporting partner to the B20, a business engagement group that meets on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Bain was appointed by the Energy Council of South Africa to run its project management office. Saftu’s, Mogoshadi Maserumule, says government cannot work with companies that attempt to collapse the country:

# Russia’s investigative committee has revealed that the chief of Russian nuclear protection forces has been killed in a Moscow bomb blast. Senior general Igor Kirillov was the head of Russia’s Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence. He died when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter exploded outside an apartment building. According to the committee, Kirillov was the head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection forces of the armed forces of the Russian Federation. His assistant was also killed in the blast.

# Cricket: New Zealand thumped England by 423 runs on day four of the third and final Test in Hamilton, to equal their biggest Test victory by the margin of runs. The visitors were set a target of 658, and despite Jacob Bethell scoring 76, England were bowled out for 234 with Mitchell Santner taking four wickets in the second innings. This was also Tim Southee’s final Test match and he heads into retirement having claimed 391 wickets for the Blackcaps. England won the series two-one.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-90-cents and the euro at 18-rand-78-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 106-thousand-955-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-651-dollars-52-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-45-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Children’s Hospital Trust has marked 30-years of transforming healthcare for children in the Western Cape. Since its inception in 1994, the Trust has invested over one-billion-rand in projects, including state-of-the-art facilities at hospitals like Red Cross War Memorial and Tygerberg, and training healthcare professionals across Africa. With the support of generous donors, the Trust says it has assisted over 5.5-million children in the last three decades

Stay tuned for more news………….