News 14:00

BULLETIN 11 November 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# NEHAWU condemns salary increases for public office-bearers
# AZAPO condemns the Government of National Unity as unemployment hits 33.7-percent
# And cricket: Labuschagne believes he can make his way back into the Australian Test team

# Union NEHAWU has condemned president Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval of salary increases of 3.5- and four-percent for public office-bearers across different categories. This follows recommendations by the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office-Bearers. NEHAWU spokesperson Lwazi Nkolonzi says the decision is completely unprincipled and insensitive to the harsh socio-economic realities facing the majority of South Africans, particularly workers and the working class:

# FNB Senior Economist Handa Sithole says manufacturing production remained weak towards the end of the third quarter of 2026. Manufacturing output contracted by 3.5-percent year-on-year in September, following a 4.1 percent decline in August. The latest figure was also weaker than market expectations, which had forecast a contraction of 2-percent. Sithole says the monthly production figures suggest manufacturing output expanded by approximately 1-percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, recovering from a 1.6 percent contraction in the previous quarter.

# AZAPO condemns the Government of National Unity as unemployment rose to 33.7-percent in the third quarter of 2026. Statistics South Africa says the number of unemployed people increased by 97-thousand to 8.6-million, despite 101-thousand jobs being created. AZAPO spokesperson Phakamisile Mooi says the organisation regards unemployment as an indictment of the GNU’s failed economic response. He also condemns the 3.5-percent salary increases for ministers and Members of Parliament, and the four-percent increases for judges, magistrates and traditional leaders, while millions of people remain jobless.

# An American baby survived after being buried in a dog crate for 24 hours. Eleven-month-old Koah Sharpe was reportedly left in the care of his 25-year-old father, Micheal Corner, at his mother’s home in Lexington, South Carolina, and both disappeared. Comer was found hours later, but the baby remained missing. A search party then found freshly disturbed dirt in the woods and heard Koah’s faint crying, and succeeded in rescuing him. He is currently recuperating in hospital while his father was arrested and charged.

# Cricket: Batter Marnus Labuschagne remains confident he will return to Australia’s Test side. The 32-year-old South African-born has been dropped from the upcoming four-match Test Championship series against New Zealand following poor performances. He managed only 131 runs with a highest score of 39 across the three Tests against South Africa. Labuschagne says he will use this as an opportunity to step back from the scrutiny he has been under for the past two years:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-54-cents and the euro at 18-rand-42-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-4-cents and Bitcoin trades at 73-thousand-823-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-49-dollars-46-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 95-dollars-87-sents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….