News 15:00

NEWSFLASH NEWS AGENCY 13 November 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Government clarifies, what it calls, the incorrect reporting about BEE requirements for agricultural exports 
# The Western Cape Health Department reassures there is no cause for alarm following the diphtheria outbreak
# And Cricket: Only six of England’s World Cup squad members are retained for the Windies tour 

# The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development recently published two notices in the Government Gazette outlining the procedure for exports from the Southern Africa Customs Union and Mozambique to the European Union and United Kingdom, respectively. This is done to take advantage of preferential tariff tate quotas for certain agricultural and agro-processed products. Spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo says weekend reports misrepresented government’s message about the procedure and annual application for export permits to EU and UK markets:

Play sound: ENG ReggieOnIncorrect

# The Western Cape Health Department has assured the public that there is no need to panic following the diphtheria outbreak at Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town. A 19-year-old inmate died last week and eight others are in isolation. Mayoral committee member for Community Services and Health, Patricia van der Ross’s spokesperson, Luke Albert told Newzroom Afrika that the rest of the province is not currently at risk and there is a vaccination drive to prevent the spread of the disease:

Play sound: ENG-AlbertOnDiptheria

# Former British prime minister David Cameron has been appointed as Foreign minister in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet in an unexpected reshuffle. Cameron replaces James Cleverly, who is the new Home secretary in place of controversial Suella Braverman. She was sacked after she recently accused police in an article of playing favourites with left-wing groups over right-wing and national activists. Cameron was prime minister from 2010 until 2016, when he resigned over the outcome of the Brexit referendum after Britons voted in favour of leaving the European Union.

# Cricket: Only six players of England’s World Cup squad will represent the country in next month’s one-day series against the Windies in the Caribbean. Jos Buttler retained the captaincy despite the defending champion failing to reach the semifinals. Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood get rested before the start of the Test series in India in January, while Test captain Ben Stokes is undergoing an operation on a longstanding knee injury. The three-match ODI series against the Windies will be followed by five T20s.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-72-cents and the euro at 20-rand-1-cent. One British pound costs 22-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 26-thousand-842-dollars-3-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-937-dollars-49-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-58-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The University of Pretoria’s Diabetes Research Centre and the Diabetes Alliance are preparing to host the Diabetes Summit on Wednesday, under the theme, ‘Diabetes Targets, Translating Policy into Reality’. The summit aims to advance the response to the prevalence of the disease in South Africa and accelerate progress towards the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases. The university says of major concern is the rate of incidence of diabetes in women in South Africa, especially in pregnant women.

Stay tuned for more news………….