News 07:00

BULLETIN 13 October 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The deputy minister of Justice calls for fairer access to courts and legal services
# An Israeli teenager is killed in an explosion
# And cricket: Renshaw puts Australia on the brink of victory in the first Test

# Justice and Constitutional Development deputy minister Andries Nel says apartheid-era geography must no longer prevent people from accessing justice. Speaking at the eighth Social Justice Summit at Stellenbosch University, Nel said the government must make courts and legal services, including maintenance support, domestic violence protection and legal aid, more accessible to communities. He added South Africa must continue working to address inequality and ensure dignity, equality and freedom for all:

# The DA says the Road Accident Fund must be reformed before motorists are asked to pay more. The party states the fund has asked National Treasury to increase the fuel levy by 75-cents a litre to three-rand, while thousands of legitimate claims remain unpaid. The DA’s Chris Hunsinger says the fund spent 12.8-million-rand on legal costs for seven disciplinary hearings and nearly 30-million-rand on salaries for at least 16 suspended executives:

# Business Leadership South Africa has called on government to set clear deadlines for private investment in the electricity grid. In her weekly newsletter, CEO Busisiwe Mavuso said plans to invite companies to bid for new transmission projects have been delayed until the second quarter of next year. Mavuso warns delays could slow the expansion of the grid and limit access to electricity. She urged the government to speed up the process of separating Eskom’s transmission business and provide a clear timetable for construction to begin.

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse welcomes the dismissal of Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority CEO Gugu Mkhize. However, its legal action challenge against her reappointment will continue. OUTA’s Stefanie Fick argues Higher Education and Training minister Buti Manamela’s decision to reappoint Mkhize for a further five-year term last year needs to be reviewed. Fick says further investigations are needed to ensure public funds are properly managed, and wrongdoing is addressed:

# A 14-year-old boy has been killed and 24 people injured in an explosion during a school hiking trip in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border. The Israeli military says the blast was likely caused by unexploded cluster ammunition fired by Hezbollah. Police believe one of the pupils may have picked the device up before it detonated. Two boys were seriously injured. Authorities are investigating the incident and checking the surrounding area for more unexploded ammunition. Police are also reviewing safety arrangements for school trips in the region.

# Cricket: Matt Renshaw starred with bat and ball as Australia moved closer to victory over South Africa in the first Test at Kingsmead in Durban. Renshaw scored 82 in Australia’s second innings, helping the visitors set the Proteas a target of 421 runs. He then claimed his first Test wicket, dismissing South African captain Temba Bavuma. South Africa ended the fourth day on 102 for four, still needing 319 runs to win, with six wickets remaining. Australia need six more wickets to take the lead in the three-Test series.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-55-cents and the euro at 18-rand-47-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-86-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 82-thousand-214-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-157-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 107-dollars-93-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….