News 14:00

BULLETIN 2 October 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A warrant of arrest is authorised for Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
# ICASA withdraws its inquiry into Netflix and WhatsApp
# And tennis: The WTA announces key changes for the 2027 season

# The High Court in Pretoria has authorised a warrant for the arrest of former Defence minister and National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula after she failed to appear in court in her corruption and money-laundering case. Her lawyers say she remains unwell, but no medical certificate was provided. Mapisa-Nqakula stands accused of soliciting corrupt payments from contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndlovu between 2016 and 2019. The warrant will be held over until her next court appearance on November 11.

# The Independent Communications Authority has withdrawn its planned market inquiry into Netflix and WhatsApp. It was intended to assess their impact on telecommunications and broadcasting networks, including proposals for major platforms to contribute towards network infrastructure costs. ICASA had planned a four-phase process involving industry submissions, public comments and hearings. The regulator says the withdrawal will allow it to address administrative and procedural matters.

# The Department of Health has welcomed Thembisile Xulu as its new Director-General. Xulu officially takes up the position following her appointment by cabinet in August. The department’s spokesperson, Foster Mohale, says Xulu, a qualified doctor, previously served as CEO of the South African National AIDS Council and spent more than 15 years with the Right to Care Group in senior leadership roles:

Moving abroad:

# The United Nations’ high commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, warns women and girls continue to suffer disproportionate harm in conflicts, while often being excluded from decisions affecting their security. In 2024, an estimated 676-million women and girls lived within 50 kilometres of active conflict, the highest figure recorded since the end of the Cold War. Türk says women are the overwhelming majority of victims of conflict-related rape, human trafficking, and sexual slavery. He adds lasting peace cannot be built in societies marked by discrimination and oppression.

# Tennis: The Women’s Tennis Association says for the first time all combined One-thousand tournaments will award women and men equal ‌prize money from 2027. This brings the Canadian Open, ‌Cincinnati Open and Italian Open into line with other combined One-thousand-level events. WTA chairperson Valerie Camillo says they are also reducing the number of tournaments top-ranked players are required to play from next year following criticism about the overloaded schedule:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-73-cents and the euro at 18-rand-79-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-9-cents and Bitcoin trades at 86-thousand-302-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-173-dollars-47-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 103-dollars-66-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….