News 7:00

BULLETIN 23 December 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA warns against the abuse of the BELA Act
# Johannesburg Water says some areas may experience intermittent to no water supply
# And Golf: England’s John Parry wins the Mauritius Open, two clear of a South African duo

# The DA has welcomed Basic Education minister, Siviwe Gwarube’s commitment to implementing the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act with clear norms and standards, ensuring mother-tongue education is preserved. DA spokesperson Willie Aucamp warns against using the Act to undermine Afrikaans single-medium schools. He criticised ANC factions for pushing English instruction in these schools while neglecting indigenous languages:

Meanwhile, an education activist Hendrick Makaneta has raised concerns about conflicting messages on the BELA Act’s rollout. Basic Education minister Siviwe Gwarube outlined a structured national plan culminating in June 2025, while Gauteng Education MEC, Matome Chiloane announced immediate provincial implementation. Makaneta warns that these discrepancies risk undermining public confidence. He calls for clear communication to ensure consistency:

# Johannesburg Water says some metro areas may experience intermittent to no water supply, as their systems are still recovering from the Rand Water maintenance. Rand Water had recently conducted a planned upgrade of local pump stations, leading to an 86-hour outage. Johannesburg Water says the Orange Farm, Ennerdale, and Lawley reservoirs are currently low. It adds that to mitigate this problem, daily interventions including closing the outlets at night to increase capacity are being conducted.

# A crackdown on illegal child marriages in India’s northeast has resulted in nearly five-thousand arrests, after 416 people were detained in the latest police sweep. Chief minister of Assam state, Himanta Biswa Sarma, says the state will continue to take bold steps to end this social evil. India is home to more than 220-million child brides, according to the United Nations, but the number of child weddings has fallen dramatically this century.

# Golf: England’s John Parry captured his first DP World Tour title in 14 years by winning the Mauritius Open. The 38-year-old shot a final round eight-under 64 for a two-stroke victory over South African pair Christo Lamprecht and Dylan Naidoo, who shared second place. Parry’s previous win on the elite European circuit came at the Vivendi Cup in 2010, but he has three wins on the Challenge Tour this year. He admitted he had considered quitting the sport:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-28-cents and the euro at 19-rand-9-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-1-cent and Bitcoin trades at 95-thousand-25-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-623-dollars-80-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-84-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….