News 15:00

BULLETIN 21 November 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Reeva’s mother won’t oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius this time
# The DA rejects the ANC’s attempts to claim credit for SASSA’s work
# And Rugby: Former Bok Juan de Jongh retires

# June Steenkamp won’t oppose Oscar Pistorius’s bid for freedom when her daughter’s murderer appears before a Correctional Services Parole Board on Friday. When the former Paralympian champion applied for parole earlier this year, Steenkamp travelled to Pretoria for the hearing. Her legal representative, Tania Koen, says this time, a lawyer will read her victim impact report during the session. Pistorius has already served more than half of his sentence of 13 years and five months for murdering his girlfriend in his Pretoria home in 2013.

# The DA has rejected the ANC’s attempts to claim credit for SASSA’s crucial work after it released a graphic featuring a SASSA card with the caption, the future is protecting the most vulnerable in society. The DA says misuse of state resources for political purposes is unacceptable and demonstrates the ANC’s desperation to cling to power at any cost. The DA’s Bridget Masango says the party stands firm in its commitment to ethical, honest, and appropriate political conduct:

# The United Nations’ annual Emissions Gap Report contains a stark warning that the world is on course for a three-degree-Celsius global heating by the end of this century. The assessment precedes the Cop28 climate summit taking place in Dubai next week. The report underscores that current carbon-cutting policies are insufficient, potentially resulting in further global warming beyond pre-industrial levels unless governments intensify climate action. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres emphasises the looming risk of reaching critical points of no return such as the melting of ice sheets.

# Rugby: Former Springbok centre Juan de Jongh has called it quits. The 35-year-old played for Western Province from 2009 to 2017 and for English side Wasps for four years before returning to Cape Town. De Jongh played for Province in the Currie Cup lately. He played 19 Tests for South Africa from 2010 to 2016, and also represented the Blitzboks, winning the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016. The Stormers describe De Jongh as a legend of the game.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-38-cents and the euro at 20-rand-11-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-2-cents and Bitcoin trades at 37-thousand-257-dollars-96-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-988-dollars-39-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-97-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A report on the state of children in the country has revealed that 4.8-million South African children are facing hunger. The study, conducted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation in collaboration with Deloitte Africa, highlights the highest rates of multi-dimensional poverty in Limpopo, Gauteng, and the Western Cape. Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund’s CEO, Linda Ncube-Nkomo told eNCA that black African-headed households and those led by females experience heightened poverty. Ncube-Nkomo emphasises the importance of ensuring equitable access to education and employment opportunities to address these challenges:

Stay tuned for more news………….