News 16:00

NEWSFLASH NEWS AGENCY 13 November 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cosatu urges the government to release and act on the forensic audit of the UIF
# The DA exposes SASSA’s alarming 4.7-percent phone answer rate across branches 
# And Cricket: India looks unstoppable ahead of the World Cup semis

# Cosatu urges president Cyril Ramaphosa to swiftly act on the forensic audit into the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the attempted misappropriation of a five-billion-rand tender to Thuja Capital. They demand the public release of the report and legal consequences for those implicated. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says it supports Employment and Labour minister Thulas Nxesi’s commitment to overhaul the UIF, ensuring efficient fund access for workers and safeguarding contributions. Parks calls for the urgent modernisation, transparency, protection against corruption in the UIF and protection of workers’ funds.

# The DA has revealed a mere 4.7-percent of over 200 South African Social Security Agency branches answered phones, leaving vulnerable grant recipients without assistance. They discovered outdated numbers and system failures. Mpumalanga has zero working telephone lines, while North West has only one. According to the party, despite SASSA’s pandemic-era call centre, investment failures persist, under Social Development minister Lindiwe Zulu. The DA’s Bridget Masango says the government’s neglect of citizens is evident, violating constitutional access to social assistance:

Play sound: ENG MasangoOnSassa

# President Cyril Ramaphosa will be undertaking a state visit to Qatar on Wednesday at the invitation of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar. This forms part of two days of engagement between the governments of South Africa and Qatar tomorrow and Wednesday. The visit occurs in the context of three decades of diplomatic relations between the two countries who will celebrate the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations in May next year. This visit will be Ramaphosa’s first visit to the State of Qatar as Head of State.

# 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 four teams remain at the World Cup with the semifinals starting on Wednesday. Hosts India was the only team to finish the group stage unbeaten and they will meet New Zealand in the first semi in Mumbai. The Black Caps finished fourth on the log. On Thursday, it is the two sides who ended in second and third place – South Africa and Australia – who will play for a place in Sunday’s final. India’s fielding coach, T Dilip, says they have momentum on their side:

Play sound: ENG T Dilip

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-75-cents and the euro at 20-rand-3-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-95-cents and Bitcoin trades at 36-thousand-809-dollars-9-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-937-dollars-95-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-60-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….