News 06:00

BULLETIN 7 October 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Government welcomes the African Commission’s findings on migration and human rights
# The FF Plus calls on president Ramaphosa to acknowledge and condemn the reality of farm murders
# And Olympics: South Africa joins the race to host the 2036 Summer Olympics

# The government has welcomed the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ preliminary findings on migration in South Africa. The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration says the commission recognised the country’s legal framework for protecting human rights, including refugees and asylum seekers. It also acknowledged challenges such as undocumented migration, unemployment, poverty, crime and hostility towards foreign nationals. Deputy government spokesperson William Baloyi says the government remains committed to managing migration lawfully and humanely:

# The DA says fuel prices can be reduced by replacing the Road Accident Fund and scrapping the levy that funds it. The party’s Chris Hunsinger says the RAF has about 450-billion-rand in outstanding claims, while its annual income is only 47-billion-rand. Hunsinger added motorists are paying more for fuel to fund a system that is failing, calling for urgent reform to bring down the cost of petrol and diesel:

# The Freedom Front Plus is calling on president Cyril Ramaphosa to acknowledge and condemn the reality of farm murders in the country. This follows the recent murder of 55-year-old Hannetjie van Zyl, who was struck over the head while attempting to open a gate at her Doornpan Farm in North West. She succumbed to her injuries en route to the hospital. FF Plus leader Corne Mulder says farm attacks are the violent consequences of hate speech and incitement such as “Kill the Boer”, which Ramaphosa also refuses to condemn.

# The Centre for Development and Enterprise says the decline of the City of Johannesburg is not only a result of weak administration or municipal incompetence. In its latest report titled ‘Time for Action – Corruption in Joburg’, the centre notes an entrenched network of political, business, and criminal interests that have intersected local government, actively profiting from dysfunction. Centre executive director Ann Bernstein has urged voters to use the local government elections to rescue Johannesburg from what she says is a “devastating crime-council ecosystem” that thrives on the metro’s decay.

# Olympics: South Africa is among seven countries that have expressed interest in hosting the 2036 Summer Olympics. The other countries are India, Qatar, Germany, Hungary, Turkey and South Korea. The International Olympic Committee says countries have until the end of this month to declare their interest before it draws up a shortlist in March next year. The 2028 Olympics will be held in Los Angeles, while Brisbane will host the 2032 Games. South Africa has never hosted the Olympics.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-51-cents and the euro at 18-rand-61-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 85-thousand-533-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-164-dollars-58-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 104-dollars-7-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen for transforming Antarctic ice into a new way of observing the universe. Halzen, a Belgian-American physicist, received the prize for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. Neutrinos are often called “ghost particles” because they have extremely small mass and barely interact with matter. Trillions pass through your body every second without you noticing.

Stay tuned for more news………….