News 18:00

BULLETIN 12 November 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IEC outlines the final steps to complete the 2026 local government elections 
# More than 20-percent of electricity outages in Joburg are linked to theft and vandalism
# And, schools in Italy, Ireland and UK evacuated after hoax bomb threat

# The Electoral Commission says several processes still need to be completed before the newly elected municipal councillors can officially take office. These include allowing political parties to fill gaps in their candidate lists and resolving cases where candidates have been nominated for more than one seat. Once the final list of councillors is published, municipal managers must arrange the first council meetings within 14 days. The remaining 994 district council seats must also be filled through elections by local councillors. 

# City Power acting CEO Charles Tlouane says they are implementing interventions to stabilise electricity supply, but warns that criminal activities targeting its infrastructure are undermining these efforts. More than 20-percent of electricity outages in the City of Johannesburg are linked to theft and vandalism. Tlouane has expressed concern about organised syndicates stealing copper cables and replacing them with alternative conductors, including aerial bundled conductors:

# The DA in the Western Cape says reliable infrastructure and an environment in which businesses can invest, grow, and create jobs is needed to address the country’s unemployment crisis. The third-quarter 2026 Quarterly Labour Force Survey puts the national unemployment rate at 33.7-percent. The DA’s Noko Masipa says the Western Cape is the only province to record positive year-on-year employment growth, adding 69-thousand jobs over the past year, and bringing total provincial employment to 2.883 million:

# More than 300 schools across Italy were evacuated yesterday after receiving emailed bomb threats. The messages also claimed an explosive device had been planted in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s car. Italian ministers suspect a deliberate campaign to spread fear, following similar hoaxes targeting schools in Britain and Ireland, and media outlets in Bulgaria. Meloni said checks had found no concrete danger, but in-depth investigations were continuing. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto says he will report to parliament on the incident and wider security issues.

# Soccer: Manchester United have parted ways with head coach Michael Carrick after ten months in charge. The former midfielder returned to Old Trafford in January and guided the club to third place in the Premier League last season, winning 12 of his 17 matches. However, a disappointing start to the current campaign has cost him his job. Carrick’s departure means United have had eight different coaches, including interim appointments, over the past five years. The club says it intends to appoint a permanent successor as soon as possible.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-73-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-54-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 72-thousand-443-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-885-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 95-dollars-95-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….