News 16:00

BULLETIN 18 November 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA criticises ministers for failing to answer over 50-percent of parliamentary questions
# Calls for a manufacturing-led growth to drive South Africa’s economy
# And tennis: Taylor Fritz improves to world number four after reaching the title match of the ATP Finals

# ActionSA says more than 50-percent of official Parliamentary questions remain answered. The party argues that government of national unity ministers frequently miss the ten-day response deadline, undermining Parliament’s role in oversight. The party has written to National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza and deputy president Paul Mashatile, demanding accountability. ActionSA’s Matthew George condemned Police minister Senzo Mchunu and his deputies for leaving Parliament last week without answering scheduled questions:

# South Africa’s economic growth should be rooted in manufacturing-led expansion and an export-oriented economy driven by local municipalities. This was discussed on the final day of the annual District Development Conference, hosted by Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape. The Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition pledged to support local industries in boosting manufacturing capacity. Deputy minister Zuko Godlimpi says there are barriers to access funding in the sector:

# US ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety has announced his resignation following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. Brigety, a Democrat under outgoing president Joe Biden, will depart in January ahead of Trump’s inauguration. Brigety highlighted how his tenure involved the fostering of key economic partnerships. According to TimesLive, Brigety claimed to have supported 267-thousand South African jobs, advancing youth, education, and health initiatives during his term.

# Tennis: American Taylor Fritz improved to his best ever world ranking of fourth after reaching the title match of the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. Italian Jannik Sinner cemented his place on top of the rakings when he clinched the title, followed by German Alexander Zverev and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. Daniil Medvedev of Russia went one down to fifth and Casper Ruud of Norway replaced Novak Djokovic of Serbia in sixth position. Russian Andrey Rublev, Australian Alex de Minaur and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov complete the top-ten.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-9-cents and the euro at 19-rand-6-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-83-cents and Bitcoin trades at 90-thousand-469-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-591-dollars-71-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-27-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Department of Health says it is confident that South Africa is making positive progress with efforts to prevent cervical cancer. The country has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer among women, with an estimated 13-thousand-800 new cases annually. The department’s spokesperson, Foster Mohale, says government has introduced several interventions to prevent cervical cancer amongst women, including the launch of the Human Papillomavirus vaccination, and expanding screening and testing services:

Stay tuned for more news………….