News 13:00

BULLETIN 4 November 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Pretoria High School for Girls’ principal found non-compliant in handling racism complaints
# Wesgro secures over 7-billion-rand in committed investment in 2023/2024
# And rugby: The All Blacks suffer a double injury setback before the Ireland Test

# A Gauteng Department of Education investigation found that Pretoria High School for Girls’ principal, Phillipa Erasmus, mishandled racism complaints. The inquiry was launched in July after 12 girls, including prefects, were accused of making racist comments in a whites-only WhatsApp group. In his findings, Mdladlamba Attorneys’ Mthuthuzeli Mdladlamba said Erasmus’ lack of action included selective discipline and unaddressed bullying:

# The Western Cape government’s trade and investment promotion entity, Wesgro, secured 7.75-billion-rand in committed investment in 2023/’24. This has resulted in three-thousand-913 jobs being created over the next five years. The DA’s Noko Masipa says in addition, 157 trade declarations were secured by Wesgro, to the value of around 6.8-billion-rand, resulting in four-thousand-948 jobs:

# Business and labour partners at the National Economic Development and Labour Council are concerned that new vaping and smoking laws will proceed without proper consultation. The Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill aims to regulate tobacco and vaping products, imposing severe penalties for violations. Despite Nedlac’s concerns, Parliament’s portfolio committee on Health plans to proceed with the legislative process on the bill. The Vapour Products Association of South Africa has also opposed the bill, advocating for regulations that differentiate between smoking and vaping.

# Rugby: The All Blacks have lost two stalwarts before Friday’s Test against Ireland in Dublin. Flyhalf Beauden Barrett and hooker Codie Taylor both suffered concussions during Saturday’s narrow 24-22 victory over England at Twickenham. Head coach Scott Robertson called up Harry Plummer and Brodie McAlister as replacements from the All Blacks Fifteen squad currently touring the United Kingdom. The clash at the Aviva Stadium is touted as a revenge match for Ireland who lost to New Zealand in the quarterfinal of last year’s World Cup.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-64-cents and the euro at 19-rand-12-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-634-dollars-50-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-737-dollars-32-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-74-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The highly anticipated La Dolce Vita Orient Express train will be launching in Italy next year. The train, which is inspired by the glamorous sophistication of 1960s and ’70s Italy, features nine passenger carriages. Three-Michelin-starred chef Heinz Beck will create distinct dining journeys inspired by the 14 Italian regions explored on the new train’s eight routes. These include a truffle route between Rome and Nizza Monferrato and a Tuscan vineyards tour that visits Montalcino. Prices start from around 66-thousand-rand.

Stay tuned for more news………….