Daily Podcast – November 18, 2020

18th November 2020 By: Sane Dhlamini - Creamer Media Senior Contributing Editor and Researcher

Daily Podcast – November 18, 2020

Photo by: Reuters

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: Govt urges SABC to reconsider job cuts, Ramaphosa and US president-elect Joe Biden discuss strengthening ties and, Congo declares end of Ebola outbreak that killed 55

 

Govt urges SABC to reconsider job cuts,

South Africa’s government on Wednesday urged the SABC to consider every viable option to save jobs, hours after the troubled public broadcaster was forced to withdraw retrenchment letters following an outcry from workers.

The disgruntled employees had planned a blackout at the South African Broadcasting Corporation after the financially-strapped company said it was cutting 400 jobs to try and get onto a more viable trajectory.

The department of communications and digital technologies said minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams and other senior officials had held an urgent meeting with the broadcaster’s board on Tuesday night over the crisis where the minister took the opportunity to implore the SABC board to consider all possible options, with an aim to preserve jobs.

 

Ramaphosa and US president-elect Joe Biden discuss strengthening ties

President Cyril Ramaphosa is hopeful of a strong relationship between the US and Africa following his call with president-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday evening.

The Presidency said Ramaphosa and Biden discussed ways to strengthen relations between the US and Africa to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biden, who is set to take office in January 2021, has been vocal about his plans to strengthen diplomatic ties between the US and other countries

The pair also spoke about Biden's visit to South Africa during apartheid.

 

Congo declares end of Ebola outbreak that killed 55

Democratic Republic of Congo's health minister announced the end of an Ebola outbreak in the west of the country that infected 130 people and killed 55.

The outbreak emerged in June, just before Congo declared the end of a separate Ebola epidemic in the east that was the second-deadliest on record, killing more than 2 200 people.

World Health Organization's Africa director, Matshidiso Moeti, said  a heartfelt thank you to everyone who tirelessly tracked down cases, provided treatment & vaccinated people in often remote communities tucked away in dense rain forests.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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