News 13:00

BULLETIN 9 November 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Professor Thuli Madonsela says the Constitution does not guarantee young people jobs
# The UDM welcomes Basic Education’s initiative to boost early-grade literacy and numeracy
# And: Pope Leo says Argentina’s economic stimulus should not target the poor

# Professor Thuli Madonsela says South Africa’s Constitution does not guarantee young people jobs, but promises justice within a fair economic system. Speaking to the Daily Maverick, she says the government should create an environment where everyone can participate in wealth creation and job creation. Madonsela argues that young people should be encouraged to become entrepreneurs and solve community problems. She also calls for university reforms to equip graduates with self-employment plans, rather than relying solely on government jobs.

Meanwhile, the Forum for South Africa is calling for urgent amendments to South Africa’s electoral legislation to strengthen the independence, transparency, accountability and credibility of the electoral processes. It has expressed concern about the conduct of the recent local government elections in Madibeng Local Municipality, North West, following reports of alleged irregularities. FORUM4SA leader Tebogo Mashilompane says questions are being raised about the fairness, impartiality and credibility of the electoral process:

# The UDM has welcomed the new pilot phase of the Basic Education Employment Initiative, which will create more than 20-thousand work opportunities for unemployed youth as education assistants. It will also provide additional support to improve literacy and numeracy in the early grades. The Foundation Phase Literacy and Numeracy pilot will be implemented in selected public primary schools across all nine provinces from January to March next year. UDM’s Yongama Zigebe says the success of the programme will depend on effective implementation:

Moving abroad:

# Pope Leo has called on Argentinian president Javier Milei and political leaders to safeguard democracy, saying strengthening democracy requires a willingness to listen and the careful use of words. The pontiff delivered a speech in Buenos Aires during his second stop on a 12-day tour of Latin America. A close ally of US president Donald Trump, Milei’s austerity agenda has been criticised by the Catholic Church for hitting the poorest the most. Leo emphasises the economy must be at the service of the people, especially the poor.

# Tennis: World number one, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, gave medical reasons for her decision to withdraw from the WTA Finals in Indian Wells in the US. She says she had an incredible season, but her body isn’t physically ready to compete in the tournament, featuring the world’s best eight singles players and doubles pairs. Rybakina was replaced by world number ten, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who lost to Czech player Linda Noskova in her first match of the round-robin event. Coco Gauff defeated American compatriot Jessica Pegula.  

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-48-cents and the euro at 18-rand-44-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-10-cents and Bitcoin trades at 74-thousand-166-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-96-dollars-92-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 99-dollars-80-sents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….