News 13:00

BULLETIN 16 October 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Cachalia welcomes Fannie Masemola’s return as national police commissioner
# Eskom seeks new revenue streams as the electricity market opens
# And rugby: Bordeaux-Bègles players get stuck at a British airport due to an administrative issue

# Acting Police minister Firoz Cachalia has welcomed the lifting of the precautionary suspension of national police commissioner Fannie Masemola following the formal withdrawal of charges against him. Cachalia thanked Puleng Dimpane for her leadership as acting commissioner. The ministry’s spokesperson, Kamogelo Mogotsi, says Masemola’s return on Monday will help maintain operational focus and advance the Police Reset Agenda, which aims to strengthen professionalism, accountability and public trust:

# Forum for South Africa rejects the Constitutional Court’s judgment over the ANC’s candidate list submission for the local government elections. The ANC convinced the court even though it did not click the final submission button, its lists loaded onto the Electoral Commission’s database should be accepted. The IEC was directed to add 181 ANC candidates to the ballots in six municipalities. Forum4SA leader Tebogo Mashilompane says this raises concerns about the rule of law:

# Eskom is exploring new revenue streams as South Africa liberalises its electricity market and reduces the power utility’s dominance. CEO Dan Marokane says the reforms are irreversible, with opportunities in renewable energy, electric vehicle charging, data centres and electricity exports. He says Eskom remains a major regional power supplier despite growing competition. The utility is also considering supplying more power to mining operations in neighbouring countries, using available generating capacity to strengthen its financial position as the energy sector transforms.

Moving abroad:

# US president Donald Trump has described his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, as a circus master. Kyiv has resumed strikes on Russia’s oil refineries after halting the attacks at the request of the US. The Kremlin accused Ukraine of attempting a large-scale attack on a refinery south of Moscow yesterday. In an interview with Newsmax, Trump stated Zelensky was less willing than Russian president Vladimir Putin to reach a compromise to end the war:

# Rugby: Five members of Bordeaux-Bègles eventually joined the rest of the French team in Gloucester, England, after being denied entry into the country. Winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey, flanker Romain Gardrat, loosehead prop Matis Perchaud, tighthead prop Toma Taufa and a fitness coach were stopped at Bristol Airport because they didn’t have valid Electronic Travel Authorisation permits, which are required for entry into Britain. The French embassy in London intervened, enabling the group to travel to Gloucester for tonight’s Champions Cup match against the home team.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-42-cents and the euro at 18-rand-48-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 82-thousand-61-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-188-dollars-83-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 107-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….