News 15:00

BULLETIN 5 December 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cabinet takes firm stance on foodborne illnesses
# SA consumer confidence hits the highest festive-season level since 2019
# And rugby: The first post-isolation Springbok coach John Williams dies at 78

# Cabinet has decided to strengthen measures against foodborne illnesses to protect public health. The government will focus on better food safety regulations, inspections, and raising public awareness. Addressing the media, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says swift action is crucial in preventing and managing foodborne illnesses, ensuring that proper measures are in place to protect the public from health risks related to food consumption:

# South African consumer confidence hit its highest festive-season level since 2019, despite a slight dip in December’s index to minus-6 from minus-5 in the previous quarter. This marks a significant improvement from minus-17 a year ago. Confidence among high-income earners rose, while it declined for middle-income groups. Key factors behind the upbeat mood include lower inflation, the end of power cuts, and the government of national unity, though concerns over the economy and the weakening rand slightly dampened optimism.

# Union Giwusa is calling on communities to urgently mobilise for a campaign of mass protests and occupations to demand the reopening of abandoned mines in South Africa. Giwusa’s Koketso Phasha says the Ministry of Mineral Resources reported that over two-thousand of the six-thousand-100 abandoned mines still have substantial mineral reserves that can be profitably mined. He says this is enough to create millions of jobs:

# Rugby: The first Springbok coach after South Africa’s isolation ended, John Williams, has died at age 78. He passed away in a Pretoria hospital after being in a coma for 10-days. Williams led the Springboks in 1992 after a stellar playing career as a lock for the Bulls and the Boks in the 1970s, earning 13 Test caps. As a coach, he won multiple Currie Cups with Northern Transvaal.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-4-cents and the euro at 18-rand-99-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 102-thousand-433-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-649-dollars-7-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-54-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour Book, which is only available from Target, has sold 814-thousand copies in its first two days on sale. This is the second-highest amount of books sold in a single reporting week since BookScan began tracking sales in 2001. The 256-page book, which commemorates her record-breaking Eras Tour, includes never-before-seen photos of the tour along with stories and memories from Swift herself. Former US president Barack Obama’s A Promised Land sold 816-thousand copies when it first went on sale in 2020.

Stay tuned for more news………….