News 12:00

BULLETIN 13 October 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Madlanga Commission seeks closed-door testimony for an intelligence official
# Minister Lamola warns the debt burden is undermining Africa’s development ambitions
# And veteran actor Marius Weyers has terminal cancer

# Madlanga Commission evidence leaders have applied to hear the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee’s acting coordinator, Ntandazo Sifolo’s evidence behind closed doors. It is expected to cover intelligence structures, organised crime threats and alleged infiltration of the criminal justice system. Evidence leaders want his testimony, recordings, transcripts and supporting documents kept confidential. He was scheduled to testify today, but it has been postponed to an unconfirmed date. Any media house seeking to challenge the application must submit in writing by Thursday.

# The Motor Industry Staff Association opposes proposed increases to vehicle registration and licence fees in Gauteng. The province plans to raise registration fees to 40-rand and increase licence disc renewal fees by 24-rand to 156-rand, the highest in the country for vehicles under three-thousand-500 kilograms. Spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola says the hikes come as petrol prices crossed 30-rand a litre, and rejects plans for a new Road Accident Fund levy on licence renewals:

# Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola says Africa’s development ambitions are being constrained by the growing burden of debt. He was speaking at the African and European Dialogue in Pretoria. Lamola says 25 African countries have in recent years spent more on debt servicing than on health and education. He says nations in the Global South face borrowing costs of up to six percentage points higher than those paid by non-African countries:

# Tennis: Germany’s Alexander Zverev will finish the year as the world’s top-ranked men’s player for the first time in his career. The 29-year-old secured the ranking after Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock defeat at the Shanghai Masters yesterday. Zverev has won both the French Open and US Open this year, claiming his first two Grand Slam titles. His achievement comes after current number one, Jannik Sinner of Italy, withdrew from competition for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-45-cents and the euro at 18-rand-40-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-843-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-191-dollars-80-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 107-dollars-44-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Veteran South African actor Marius Weyers, aged 81, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He told Netwerk24 he had come to terms with his condition and felt at peace. Weyers was recently admitted to hospital and is now in a rehabilitation facility. He is expected to return to his home in Rooi-Els where he will receive care without further medical intervention. During his career spanning more than five decades, he appeared in about 200 theatre, film and television productions. Weyers’s wife, Evette, a respected sculptor, died in 2023 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Stay tuned for more news………….