News 14:00

BULLETIN 4 November 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A senior prosecutor warns of threats to Witnesses A and B in the Armand Swart murder case
# A professor says no country has managed to achieve universal health coverage
# And rugby: Rassie will only announce the Bok team for the French clash on Thursday

# Crime Intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo has confirmed a letter from a senior state prosecutor warning of threats against witnesses in the murder case of Vereeniging engineer Armand Swart. Swart was shot 23 times in a presumed case of mistaken identity. Khumalo told the Madlanga commission the prosecutor urged urgent protection for Witnesses A and B, citing danger from organised criminals seeking to derail the trial and destroy evidence against them:

# The International Trade Administration Commission has reduced the domestic discount on ferrous scrap from 30- to 25-percent. Chief commissioner Ayabonga Cawe says the modest changes to South Africa’s scrap metal pricing system follows 13 months of review and aims to balance competing interests in the sector. Cawe notes the 20-percent export tax remains in place. Industry players, including recyclers and steel producers, remain divided, with critics warning the policy still hampers fair competition and regional suppliers.

# London School of Economics and Political Science professor, Alistair McGuire, says no country has managed to achieve universal health coverage, partly because health keeps on changing. He took part in the Department of Health’s panel discussion on accelerating universal health coverage and health security in South Africa. McGuire says universal healthcare is important to reduce entrenched inequalities in societies:

Moving abroad:

# Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman will be at the White House on November 18 for an official working visit with US president Donald Trump. The visit comes as Trump pushes Saudi Arabia to join the list of nations that have joined the Abraham Accords, a series of deals signed in 2020 with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to normalise relations with Israel. In an interview with CBS, Trump said he believed the Saudis would ultimately join the accords.

# Rugby: Rassie Erasmus is playing the guessing game with France’s coach, Fabian Galthie, and will only announce the Springbok team for Saturday’s clash on Thursday. He usually names the squad on the Tuesday before the match. The clash at the Stade de France in Paris will be the first between the two countries since South Africa beat the hosts in the quarterfinal of 2023’s World Cup. The result is very important before the draw for the 2027 World Cup in Australia takes place early next month.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-44-cents and the euro at 20-rand-7-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-79-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-781-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-992-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-92-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….