News Bulletin of 24 December 2025, 7am

Headline 1
Pirates coach Ouaddou hails AFCON growth
Story 1
Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says the Africa Cup of Nations continues to raise the standard of African soccer.
Speaking in Morocco, Ouaddou praised CAF president Patrice Motsepe for improving organisation, facilities and pitch quality across the continent.
Ouaddou says these improvements will deliver one of the best AFCON tournaments.
He also wished Bafana Bafana and his players well urging them to make their country proud:
*sound*
Story 1 category
Headline 2
SpongeBob Squarepants comes to Johannesburg in January
Story 2
Eastgate Shopping Centre, in Bedfordview, will host a SpongeBob SquarePants meet-and-greet on 11 January.
The yellow sea sponge will appear at the Krispy Kreme Court, from 10h00 to 13h00, where children can meet him and take photos.
The event forms part of the mall’s holiday programme ahead of the new school term.
Eastgate cinemas will also screen SpongeBob: Search for SquarePants from 26 December.
Story 2 category
Headline 3
South African authors walkaway with World’s Best Vegan Book
Story 3
South African authors Louis Jansen van Vuuren and Isabella Niehaus have won World’s Best Vegan Book at the 2025 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards with There’s a Vegan on My Verandah, marking the book’s second global win.
The awards, recognise excellence in food and wine publishing worldwide, with winners selected for content, design and cultural contribution.
The pair first won the title in 2023, followed by a 2024 win for their second book, Earthling Food, before reclaiming the top vegan category in 2025.
Story 3 category
Financial Indicators headline
Financial Indicators
Financial indicators
Your financial indicators for this hour:

The Rand is trading at 16.67 to the US Dollar, 0.00 to the British Pound, and 0.00 to the Euro.

Gold is trading at 4,482.94 dollars a fine ounce, Brent Crude Oil is at Error per barrel, and a Bitcoin will set you back 87,247.00.
Teaser / Tailpiece headline
German engineer 1st wheelchair user to travel into space
Teaser / Tailpiece story
German engineer Michaela Benthaus has become the first wheelchair user to travel into space.
Benthaus flew on a 10-minute Blue Origin suborbital mission launched from Texas this past weekend.
The capsule crossed the Kármán line, the recognised boundary of space.
Benthaus, who sustained a spinal cord injury seven years ago, secured the flight after contacting a retired space engineer who helped organise the mission.
Split analysis
Local: 63 words (30%), National: 0 words (0%), International: 148 words (70%)