News 14:00

BULLETIN 5 November 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA leader denounces state control in education during a BELA Act demonstration in Pretoria
# Major water infrastructure projects are underway to secure water supply
# And athletics: The World Athlete of the Year finalists are announced

# DA leader John Steenhuisen has expressed strong opposition to clauses four and five of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act during a protest in Pretoria. He warned that learning in a non-native language can hurt learners’ understanding of subjects like mathematics and science. Addressing protestors at the Voortrekker Monument, Steenhuisen called for local control in schools and a focus on improving education standards, stating that South Africa’s future depends on a well-educated youth.

# The Water and Sanitation Department, alongside the Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority, is executing 14 large-scale water infrastructure projects worth 100-billion-rand. Minister of Water and Sanitation, Pemmy Majodina, says key initiatives include the 42-billion-rand Lesotho Highlands water project and 28-billion-rand uMkhomazi Dam. She says in addition, the Lesotho Highlands tunnel shutdown seeks to ensure sufficient water storage for municipalities:

# The GOOD Party says it is unacceptable that the City of Cape Town is continuing to discharge 30 million litres of raw, untreated sewage along the Atlantic seaboard. Earlier this year, inspections of the metro’s water and sanitation facilities revealed significant violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, resulting in the issuance of compliance notices. GOOD’s Suzette Little says clean audits can’t cover up the rotten stench of the metro far exceeding permissible sewage volumes into the ocean:

# South Africans in the United States are concerned about the implications of a potential Donald Trump presidency for pro-Palestine nations. Polls indicate that the ongoing Gaza conflict has alienated predominantly Muslim voters from both Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, with some considering alternatives like the Green Party. Some South African believe Harris may be less harmful for Palestine than Trump. There are fears that Trump’s re-election would exacerbate tensions with nations like South Africa that support Palestinian rights.

# Athletics: World Athletics has announced the finalists for each of its six Athlete of the Year award categories. Botswana’s 200-metre Olympic champion, Letsile Tebogo, has been nominated for the men’s track athlete of the year alongside Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen. The women’s category sees Olympic 100-metre gold medalist Julien Alfred from Saint Lucia up against America’s 400-metre hurdles Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. World marathon record-holder Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya is up for the women’s out-of-stadium athlete of the year award.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-44-cents and the euro at 18-rand-99-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-64-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-759-dollars-70-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-737-dollars-69-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-55-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….