News 18:00

BULLETIN 25 November 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Fikile Mbalula is granted a gag order against Brown Mogotsi
# SCOPA threatens a criminal investigation against former Road Accident Fund CEO Collins Letsoalo
# And, the Solidarity-Government mediation is deadlocked over rising retrenchments

# The High Court in Pretoria has granted ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula a gag order against businessman Brown Mogotsi. Mogotsi had publicly accused Mbalula of involvement in the murder of North West businessman Wandile Bozwana and corruption, claims the court found to be false and defamatory. News24 reports Judge Jacobus Strydom ordered Mogotsi to remove all statements from media and social platforms within 48 hours and banned him from making further defamatory comments. Damages will be determined at a later stage.

# The Standing Committee on Public Accounts says it will refer former Road Accident Fund CEO Collins Letsoalo for criminal investigation if he fails to appear before Parliament tomorrow. Letsoalo has ignored lawful summonses over alleged financial mismanagement at the RAF. SCOPA has allocated two days for his testimony, following seven weeks of evidence from current and former employees. Chair Songezo Zibi stressed Parliament must hear all sides for a fair inquiry:

# Solidarity and the government have failed to reach an agreement during mediation at National Economic Development and Labour Council to resolve concerns over escalating retrenchments. Employers including Columbus Steel, Glencore and Samancor attended the talks. Solidarity warns that hundreds of thousands of jobs could be lost before Christmas and plans nationwide protests. Spokesperson Gideon du Plessis says government failures in infrastructure, policy and regulation are driving the crisis:

# US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll held talks with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi as part of an intense new push by president Donald Trump’s administration to end the war in Ukraine. The exact nature of the discussions was not immediately clear. Driscoll was also expected to meet Ukrainian officials while in Abu Dhabi. Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv was hit by a missiles and drones in a Russian strike overnight that killed at least six people and disrupted power and heating systems.

# Tennis: Nick Kyrgios has received a wildcard into the revamped Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, as preparation for the Australian Open 2026. The 30-year-old Australian has not played on the ATP Tour since March, with career-threatening knee and wrist surgeries restricting him to just six matches in more than three years. Kyrgios joins the likes of Italian Matteo Berrettini, Croatian Marin Cilic and Alexander Bublik of Russia, who will play at the Kooyong Classic in January.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-22-cents and the euro at 19-rand-92-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-67-cents and Bitcoin trades at 86-thousand-851-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-143-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 61-dollars-47-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….