News 13:00

BULLETIN 26 November 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Tshwane activates a disaster operations centre to address the foodborne illness crisis
# Golf: Tiger Woods won’t play in next month’s Hero World Challenge
# And: FNB predicts a three-billion-rand spending on Black Friday weekend

# The City of Tshwane has activated its Disaster Operations Centre in response to the increase in foodborne illness cases linked to spaza shops. Nearly 900 cases have been recorded across the country with over 20 deaths. The centre has been activated at Level 2, enabling a multi-sectoral response to manage and mitigate the crisis effectively. The metro says the centre will ensure swift action to inspect spaza shops, confiscate hazardous substances and enforce compliance with municipal health and safety regulations.

Meanwhile, the Activists and Citizens Forum says the current challenges with spaza shops could have been addressed a long time ago if there was political will from president Cyril Ramaphosa to do so. The forum’s Dennis Bloem says the influx of illegal undocumented foreigners is also a major problem:

# The Namibian Police Force, in partnership with the country’s Electoral Commission, will deploy five-thousand-and-42 officials to over two-thousand polling teams. They will be deployed at four-thousand-677 stations nationwide for tomorrow’s presidential and National Assembly elections. Chief Inspector Elifas Kuwinga says this large-scale operation ensures safety and security, supported by the entire security cluster. He affirmed the commitment to maintaining a smooth polling process:

# Golf: Fifteen-time major winner Tiger Woods says he will not compete in the Hero World Challenge in Albany in the Bahamas next month. The 48-year-old underwent surgery in September to alleviate back spasms and pain that hampered his limited playing schedule this season. The American missed the cut in three of the four majors this year. Woods says he is disappointed that he will not compete in the tournament, which he hosts.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-9-cents and the euro at 19-rand-2-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 93-thousand-517-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-623-dollars-4-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

# And finally: FNB forecasts over 19.5-million transactions worth three-billion-rand during the 2024 Black Friday weekend, boosted by payday timing and economic recovery. Digital payments are expected to grow 40-percent, with online sales increasing by ten-percent. Retailers are optimistic about strong consumer spending, supported by interest rate cuts and two-pot retirement withdrawals. Meanwhile, analysts predict Black Friday sales could inject 88-billion-rand into South Africa’s economy.

Stay tuned for more news………….