News 16:00

BULLETIN 5 November 4pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis looks forward to governing Cape Town again
# Omnia shareholders approve a 21.8-billion-rand buyout offer from India’s Solar Group
# And motorsport: Antonelli turns his attention to helping Mercedes clinch the double championship

# The DA leader and mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, says the party is currently projected to receive 58-percent of the vote in the city following yesterday’s local government elections. He told the media Cape Town could be the only major city with a majority government if the current voting trends continue. Hill-Lewis says he is looking forward to another term governing the city:

The Inkatha Freedom Party says it’s recording mixed results and will carefully assess the outcomes before considering coalition talks. National spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa spoke at the results centre in Midrand, Gauteng. Hlengwa highlighted gains in Umzumbe, where the IFP has won 15 of the 20 wards. He says results from rural municipalities, which are still coming in, could significantly change the political picture. Hlengwa says the party will consider proportional representation seats before making coalition decisions:

In Limpopo, a 31-year-old EFF member has been fatally stabbed near a voting station in Polokwane. Police say the incident happened at around 5 AM this morning following an altercation between two people reportedly belonging to the same political party. The suspect allegedly returned to the scene and stabbed the victim in the neck before fleeing. Police later arrested a 35-year-old man. He is expected to appear in the local Magistrate’s Court on a murder charge tomorrow.

# Omnia shareholders have approved a 21.8-billion-rand buyout offer from India’s Solar Group, paving the way for the 73-year-old South African fertiliser and explosives producer to delist from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Omnia was founded in 1953. The offer values the company at 134-rand-50 per share. Solar Group says the deal demonstrates its confidence in Omnia’s long-term growth prospects. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Solar’s global mining explosives operations and expand its agricultural business, subject to regulatory approvals.

# Motorsport: Kimi Antonelli’s celebrations are over for now as he sets his sights on helping his Mercedes Formula One team to clinch the constructors’ championship during this weekend’s Grand Prix in São Paulo, Brazil. The 20-year-old Italian became the youngest driver in F1 history to clinch the drivers’ championship last weekend, with four races remaining. Mercedes is currently 126 points ahead of nearest rival Ferrari and just needs to outscore the Italian team by three or more points to clinch the double.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-40-cents and the euro at 18-rand-41-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-10-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-12-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-126-dollars-40-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 100-dollars-21-sents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….