News 15:00

BULLETIN 7 October 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Shadrack Sibiya says the recording played in court was taken out of context
# Rugby: A huge scrum battle is expected between the Sprinbgoks Nché and Louw on Saturday
# And the 2026 Nobel Chemistry Prize is awarded to scientists who solved a century-old molecular mystery

# Suspended deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has sought to clarify a damning recording played in court where he is heard threatening the father of a 16-year-old he allegedly groomed. Sibiya is appearing in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Gauteng for his bail application. He faces charges including rape, sexual grooming and trafficking. Sibiya’s lawyer, Armand Nel, says the conversation was taken out of context.

# The Gauteng Department of Health acknowledges medicine supply challenges at public facilities across the province. It says this is due to contract changes, supplier delays and broader supply-chain pressures. Spokesperson Steve Mabona says they are monitoring availability through its Stock Visibility System and has interventions including rotating stock between facilities, sourcing from alternative suppliers and using therapeutic alternatives. He says availability is actively monitored to minimise treatment interruptions.

Moving abroad:

# Car manufacturer Tesla is stepping up pressure on European regulators to approve its full self-driving technology. The Netherlands has approved the system and recommended European Union-wide approval, while seven other countries have granted national approval. But the technology is not fully autonomous and requires drivers to remain attentive. Seven traffic-safety researchers who reviewed Tesla’s research for Reuters say its safety claims are not supported by evidence. They say the company’s studies do not prove that the system prevents fatal crashes.

# Rugby: A huge scrumming battle is expected in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship match between the Stormers and the Sharks in Cape Town when Springboks Wilco Louw and Ox Nché will team up against each other. Louw was picked for the Stormers’ on his return after leaving in 2019, while he and the Sharks’ Nché are regarded as two of the world’s most destructive scrummagers. Nché says it’s always exciting to play against a national teammate, but he will rather focus on the whole pack.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-69-cents and the euro at 18-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-5-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-644-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-120-dollars-65-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 105-dollars-6-cents a barrel.

# And finally: 2026’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to French scientist Henri Kagan and Japan’s Kenso Soai for their work on non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis. Their work helps explain how chemical reactions can produce one mirror-image form of a molecule rather than an equal mix of both. The Nobel Committee’s Hiener Linke says their work has also been important in developing chemical reactions used to manufacture medicines:

Stay tuned for more news………….