News 11:00

BULLETIN 2 October 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A organisation records a surge in political assassinations in South Africa
# Amnesty International says Christa Pike’s botched execution was an extreme display of cruelty
# And cricket: The Wanderers will host next year’s World Cup final

# The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime says political assassinations, if left unchecked, will narrow democratic choice, corrode local government, and allow criminal governance to decide who can hold power. Forty-two people have been murdered in suspected political assassinations in South Africa this year, ahead of the local government elections. Most political killings have taken place in KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. According to the organisation, this year’s killings have followed key election mobilisation points, branch meetings, candidate selection and voter registration drives.

# Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy says as geopolitical pressures drive up household costs, government is advancing an integrated transport system designed to make public transport safer and more affordable. October is Transport Month. Creecy says her department is busy reforming the public transport grant system into a unified support model available on selected routes to bus and taxi operators alike. She adds they are also confronting criminality and intimidation in the sector:

# The City of Tshwane’s Energy and Electricity Business Unit says the critical load transfers and interconnection process is 95-percent complete following an explosion at the Waltloo substation that left a transformer at the Njala infeed substation damaged. The incident happened on Tuesday, leaving parts of the metro without power. Spokesperson Selby Bokaba says technical teams are monitoring and managing the transferred load to maintain network stability:

Moving abroad:

# Amnesty International USA says Tennessee’s botched execution of Christa Pike is the latest reminder that the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Pike, sentenced to death for a 1995 murder, survived two lethal injections on Wednesday evening. She would have been the first woman to be executed in the state in over 200 years. Amnesty International’s Justin Mazzola told Reuters this is the second time in less than five months that Tennessee has botched an execution:

# Cricket: The Wanderers in Johannesburg will host the 2027 one-day World Cup final, as it did in 2003, on November 21st. Newlands in Cape Town will host the opening match between India and defending champions Australia on October 7, and the first semifinal, with Centuring hosting the second. Twelve venues will be used for the tournament, which will be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia. In South Africa, games will also be played in Paarl, Bloemfontein, Durban, KuGompo City and Gqeberha. Other host cities and towns include Harare, Bulawayo and Windhoek.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-67-cents and the euro at 18-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-1-cent and Bitcoin trades at 85-thousand-988-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-180-dollars-41-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 105-dollars-12-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….