News 17:00

BULLETIN 7 January 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC deputy president’s Khayelitsha visit turns into a political disaster
# Matrics will know tomorrow if their results will be published in the media
# And Rugby: South African teams get going with Champions and Challenge Cup action this weekend

# ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile’s door-to-door campaign in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape ahead of the party’s January 8 rally, ended in chaos when a resident angrily demanded that the delegation leave his mother’s home. The confrontation escalated after Mashatile’s security blocked the man from entering the house. The man, carrying a child, shouted and insisted the politicians leave. Mashatile later apologised to the family, blaming the incident on security protocols:

# The Department of Basic Education says the Information Regulator’s urgent application to stop the publication of matric results lacks true urgency. With the results set to be announced next week, the legal battle continues in the High Court in Pretoria over the balance between privacy and public access. The court announced it would decide tomorrow morning whether to proceed with the matter. The department’s legal counsel Marius Oosthuizen told the court the urgency is self-created:

# Sweden’s Volvo Cars registered record sales figures last year powered by increasing demand for its electric vehicles. The Chinese-owned automaker said 2024 brought an eight-percent jump in sales compared to the previous year, but the figure for fully electric vehicles was 54-percent. The company said it had sold 763-thousand-389 vehicles of which 175-thousand-194 were fully electric and 177-thousand-593 hybrid.

# French President Emmanuel Macron took aim at Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of social media platform X and close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, accusing him of supporting “a new international reactionary movement”. Outlining France’s foreign policy for the coming year, Macron called on Ukraine to have realistic expectations on territory as its fight against the Russian invasion heads into a fourth year, saying he saw no quick and easy solution to the conflict. He also said the West must not be naive about the new authorities in Syria.

# Rugby: South African teams will get the new year going this weekend with action in the Champions and Challenge Cups. In the Champions Cup, the Sharks face title holders Toulouse in Durban on Saturday. The Stormers have a must-win game in Cape Town against Sale Sharks after two losses. The Bulls are in the same boat and face Castres away in France. In the Challenge Cup the Lions face Montpellier at home in France and the Cheetahs play against Zebre in Amsterdam on Sunday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-57-cents and the euro at 19-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 29-rand-28-cents and Bitcoin trades at 100-thousand-692-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-655-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-57-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….