News 15:00

BULLETIN 10 January 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Solidarity’s court battle against the National Health Insurance Act is to continue this year
# Operation Dudula demands priority for South African children in schools
# And Tennis: Felix Auger-Aliassime and Madison Keys reach the finals in Adelaide

# Trade union Solidarity says the National Health Insurance scheme is unrealistic and an unsustainable financial burden on taxpayers, dismissing government promotions as empty political promises. They have filed a court case to stop the NHI and plan to keep fighting it this year. Solidarity’s Theuns du Buisson warned the plan could cost up to 1.3-trillion-rand and lead to big tax increases:

# Operation Dudula is intensifying its stance, demanding South African learners be prioritised over children of foreign nationals in public schools. This comes as schools are set to reopen next week. Deputy national organiser Che Serobedi announced plans to deploy members nationwide to monitor admissions. The group opposes the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, which permits undocumented learners to enroll. Serobedi criticised the government’s approach, alleging neglect of South African children.

# The Referendum Party says it notes Sport, Arts and Culture minister, Gayton McKenzie’s comments condemning the Afghani Cricket Federation for its discrimination against women. The minister supports calls for the Proteas to boycott their ICC Champions Trophy match against Afghanistan next month. He cited moral concerns over the Taliban government’s ban on women’s sports and the disbanding of Afghanistan’s female cricket team in 2021. Referendum Party leader, Phil Craig, says they support the minister’s stance:

# The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin was open to talks with Donald Trump without preconditions. This follows remarks by the incoming US president that a meeting between the pair was being set up. Putin’s spoksesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Putin has repeatedly stated his openness to contact with international leaders, including the US president. The Kremlin welcomed Trump’s readiness to solve problems through dialogue. Trump will take office after his inauguration on 20 January.

# Tennis: Felix Auger-Aliassime needed four match points and nearly three hours to beat Tommy Paul 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 and reach the Adelaide International final. On the eve of the Australian Open, it was a 16th final for the Canadian and puts him one win from a sixth title. In the women’s draw, two-time Australian Open semi-finalist Madison Keys won 5-7, 7-5, 3-0 over Liudmila Samsonova to send her into a second final at the tournament. The 2022 Adelaide champion advanced when her heavily-taped opponent retired in the third set.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-98-cents and the euro at 19-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-34-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-943-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-681-dollars-50-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-67-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….