News 13:00

BULLETIN 28 October 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A South African man is arrested in America over alleged child abuse material
# Rugby: Bongi relishes his return to the Stormers after a four-year absence
# And Princess Anne will visit Cape Town next week

# A South African man working in the US has been arrested in Oklahoma over alleged child sexual abuse material. The Grady County sheriff’s office says 42-year-old Vico du Toit was identified following a tip-off to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators allege he uploaded and possessed the material using the Kik messaging app. Du Toit is expected to appear at a preliminary hearing conference next week.

# The Gauteng legislature’s Community Safety Committee welcomes two life sentences handed to a 34-year-old Eldorado Park man for the rape and murder of his four-year-old daughter. The man pleaded guilty to murder, rape, child abuse and assault. The committee’s Bandile Masuku says the sentence sends a strong message that crimes against women and children will face the full might of the law:

# The leadership of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture was a no-show in Parliament yesterday. According to the Auditor-General, approximately 41-percent of the department’s entities had the potential to achieve clean audits. However, the department is hamstrung by a lack of consequence management, ineffective monitoring of action plans and slow implementation of recommendations. The chairperson of the select committee on Education, Science and the Creative Industries, Makhi Feni, says the absence of the leadership shows the serious lack of accountability:

# Rugby: Double World Cup-winning hooker Bongi Mbonambi is looking forward to make an impact at the Stormers again. His return to Cape Town after four years was confirmed this morning. The Sharks announced they have mutually agreed to bring his playing contract to an end with immediate effect, while the Stormers had him sign a one-year contract. Director of rugby John Dobson says Mbonambi will slot in immediately before Saturday’s United Rugby Championship home game against Ulster, relieving the team’s hooker crisis following injuries and a suspension.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-65-cents and the euro at 18-rand-52-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-14-cents and Bitcoin trades at 81-thousand-383-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-54-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 116-dollars-14-sents a barrel.

# And finally: Britain’s Princess Anne will visit Cape Town next week as president of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth. She will attend the 31st Commonwealth Agriculture Conference, which brings together the next generation of farmers from across the association. Anne will also take part in engagements highlighting links between the UK and South Africa. These include meeting township entrepreneurs supported by the UK-South Africa Tech Hub’s Township Digital Market Access programme and meeting the last known World War Two veteran in the country.

Stay tuned for more news………….