News 06:00

BULLETIN 4 November 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The CEO of the IEC raises concern over attempts to undermine the electoral process
# The MK Party calls for an urgent probe into the murder of its KwaZulu-Natal regional organiser
# And rugby: Rassie sees Paul De Villiers as the Boks’ next hybrid player

# The Electoral Commission’s CEO, Sy Mamabolo, says growing attempts to undermine the integrity of the local government elections are a concern. Mamabolo has warned against the spread of misinformation and artificial intelligence-generated content on social media, urging voters to verify information before sharing it. He also called on political parties and candidates to avoid inflammatory remarks and respect the electoral code of conduct: 

Meanwhile, the Police Ministry has assured voters that security measures are in place as South Africans head to the polls today. Following his visit to the IEC’s results centre in Midrand, acting Police minister Firoz Cachalia says police are working with the IEC to ensure safe and peaceful elections. Ministry spokesperson Kamogelo Mogotsi warns lawlessness and any conduct threatening the electoral process will not be tolerated: 

# The EFF says South Africa will do fine without the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The US will exclude the country from the duty-free trade deal next year for several reasons, including barriers that undermine American trade and investment practices. The EFF says AGOA was a conditional trade arrangement through which America sought to advance its own geopolitical and economic interests, while placing pressure on African countries to align their political and foreign-policy decisions with the US. It says South Africa must pursue global trade partnerships on its own terms.

# The MK Party has called for the Political Killings Task Team to immediately investigate the murder of its regional organiser in Ugu on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, Lastborn Shazi. It is believed that he was cornered by gun-wielding assassins while at his home in uMzumbe on Monday night and shot dead. Shazi was on the party’s proportional representation list for the local government elections. KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda has urged the public to not speculate on the motive for the murder:

# Two Ryanair passenger planes have been searched in Rome after bomb threats were reported on flights arriving from Dublin and Lisbon. Italian fighter jets escorted the aircraft to Fiumicino Airport, where police and bomb-disposal teams inspected the planes, passengers and luggage. No explosives were found, and the alerts were cleared. The incidents were part of a series of bomb threats affecting at least six flights across Europe on Tuesday, including aircraft arriving in Poland, Spain and Bulgaria. Authorities are investigating whether the threats are connected.

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus believes Paul de Villiers can become their next hybrid player. The 23-year-old flanker impressed in his three Tests for South Africa so far, and Erasmus thinks he should be able to slot into the backline with ease in an emergency. He says De Villiers has trained in several positions, even at scrumhalf, in the absence of André Esterhuizen, who played flanker and centre for South Africa. De Villiers starts on the bench in Saturday’s Nations Championship match against Italy in Turin.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-59-cents and the euro at 18-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-28-cents and Bitcoin trades at 77-thousand-657-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-930-dollars-98-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 108-dollars-4-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….