News 18:00

BULLETIN 7 October 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Shadrack Sibiya’s bail hearing reveals an alleged police case information leak
# Paul Mashatile welcomes the progress with the national dialogue
# And, the PSA calls for fair treatment om International Day of Decent Work

# The Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Gauteng has heard that a police officer who filed an affidavit supporting former deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya’s bail application allegedly leaked information about the case to him. The court also heard a recording in which Sibiya allegedly asked if the officer could be trusted to ‘take a bullet’ for him. Sibiya faces charges of rape, sexual grooming of a child and human trafficking. The state is opposing bail, citing he could interfere with witnesses.

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile has welcomed progress by the National Dialogue Steering Committee towards an inclusive and credible process. Mashatile met the committee today as various sectors continued consultations on issues affecting South Africans. According to Mashatile’s spokesperson, Itumeleng Mafatshe, he says pilot dialogues show citizens are willing to engage constructively and contribute solutions. She says Mashatile has called on the committee to address outstanding governance and participation matters:

# North Korea has criticised the United States for its military support and arms sales to Taiwan, accusing Washington of fuelling tensions in the Taiwan Strait. The comments came after Taiwan received the first two of 66 US-made F-16 fighter jets ordered in 2019. Kim Jong Un has also pledged continued support for Russia in a birthday message to President Vladimir Putin. Kim says Pyongyang will expand cooperation with Moscow and expressed confidence that Russia’s war will end in victory. North Korea has sent around 15-thousand troops to support Russia since 2024.

# Soccer: The Court of Arbitration in Sport will tomorrow hear Senegal’s appeal against the stripping of its Africa Cup of Nations title. The African governing body, C-A-F, awarded the title to Morocco in March despite Senegal winning the final in January 1-0 in extra time. This happened after Senegal’s players walked off the pitch for 14 minutes in protest against an umpire decision. C-A-F’s appeal board ruled Senegal had forfeited the match by walking off. The governing body and both countries will make submissions to the court.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-65-cents and the euro at 18-rand-63-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-1-cent and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-108-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-97-dollars-68-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 104-dollars-94-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Public Servants Association, representing over 250-thousand public servants, today is commemorating International Day of Decent Work. The Association’s Claude Naicker says public servants face unsafe conditions, excessive workloads and high vacancy rates while expected to do more with less. He called on government to prioritise filling funded vacancies, strengthen safety measures and uphold collective bargaining. He added decent work is vital for a capable state and sustainable development:

Stay tuned for more news………….