News 18:00

BULLETIN 7 November 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa arrives in Rome on a working visit to the Vatican
# The Oppenheimer family urges government to step aside for entrepreneurs
# And, convicted murderer Zaheera Boomgaard is sentenced to life imprisonment

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived in Rome for a working visit to the Vatican. The visit aims to strengthen collaboration on humanitarian aid, climate justice, emergency response, and peacebuilding. Ramaphosa will meet Pope Leo, marking South Africa’s first high-level engagement with the new pontiff. The Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says the visit underscores the shared values of Ubuntu and the pope’s vision for a compassionate, inclusive global community:

# The Oppenheimer family has urged government to ease restrictions on entrepreneurs. The family who are the founders of Anglo American and De Beers mining companies, says red tape, weak growth, and high costs threaten small businesses that make up 91-percent of South Africa’s formal sector. Spokesperson Jonathan Oppenheimer says under current inflation pressures, many small businesses will shut down. He reiterated the World Bank’s calls for cutting bureaucratic barriers stifling economic growth.

# Convicted murderer Zaheera Boomgaard has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court in Pretoria. She was earlier convicted for the murders of British national Jamnandas Nathvani and her friend, Lynette Mustapha, near Vereeniging in 2020. Boomgaard was acquitted of a third murder charge involving John Naisby, who is still missing since 2012. Judge John Holland-Muter handed down the sentence, citing the gravity of the crimes and the need for justice and accountability.

# Motorsport: McLaren’s Australian driver, Oscar Piastri, still believes he can win Formula One’s drivers’ championship. He led for six months before being overtaken by teammate Lando Norris when the Brit won last month’s Mexican Grand Prix. Piastri is now one point behind him, with Red Bull’s defending champion, Dutchman Max Verstappen, just 35 points adrift. This means this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix would be of great importance. Piastri says he still has what it takes:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-34-cents and the euro at 20-rand-5-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 100-thousand-175-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-998-dollars-86-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

En die finansiële aanwysers: Die rand verhandel teen 17-rand-34-sent teen die dollar, 20-rand-5-sent teen die euro en 22-rand-77-sent teen die pond. Bitcoin verhandel teen 100-duisend-175-dollar. Die prys van goud is drie-duisend-998-dollar-86-sent per fynons en die prys van Brent ruolie 63-dollar-85-sent per vat.

# and finally, the City of Cape Town is set to experience elevated temperatures in the low to high 30 degrees Celsius from today until Sunday. The South African Weather Service has issued a warning for heat wave conditions with persistently high temperatures over the West Coast, Cape Town and Western parts of the Cape Winelands District. The Disaster Risk Management spokesperson, Sonica Lategan, says residents are reminded to follow all relevant safety protocols to reduce their risk of heat-related impacts:

Stay tuned for more news………….