News 12:00

BULLETIN 3 October 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Parliament criticises Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s unwarranted attack on officials
# An American doctor pleads guilty to complicity in Friends actor Matthew Perry’s death
# And cricket: More woes for Pakistan as captain Babar Azam quits

# Parliament says it is dismayed at unfounded utterances made by former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal against a Western Cape High Court ruling related to her impeachment inquiry. In a social media post, Mkhwebane said her ongoing struggle against her impeachment had consistently involved individuals of Indian descent, singling out inquiry evidence leader, Nazreen Bawa, and Parliament’s chief legal advisor, Zuraya Adhikarie. Parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, says Mkhwebane’s attacks are unwarranted:

# Sixty-percent of South Africans believe the government of national unity is working well, while 28-percent feel it’s performing poorly. This is according to a poll by the Social Research Foundation, which also tracked electoral support for parties inside the coalition government. It found support for the ANC and DA in particular had increased by up to ten-percent. The foundation’s Gabriel Makin says one of the main reasons for the upswing in sentiment was that the government of national unity had effectively addressed the concerns of the middle class.

# Cosatu has applauded the government’s commitment to increase the number of labour inspectors from the current two-thousand to 20-thousand over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. This expansion will enhance government’s ability to conduct thorough audits and inspections across the country. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says this bold and decisive victory will help ensure millions of workers can exercise their rights and enjoy the protection of the law:

# Californian doctor Mark Chavez has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute ketamine in connection with the death of Friends star Matthew Perry. Ketamine is used as a treatment for depression, anxiety and pain. Chavez is the third person to admit wrongdoing in Perry’s death, which was ruled the result of an overdose of ketamine. The actor was found dead in his backyard jacuzzi in October last year. Chavez admitted that he obtained ketamine from his former clinic and from a wholesale distributor where he submitted a fraudulent prescription.

# Cricket: Pakistan’s limited-overs team is leaderless after captain Babar Azam resigned, compounding a management crisis experts say has badly affected the team’s international performance in all formats. Azam announced his resignation on his personal social media before an official Pakistan Cricket Board statement more than 12 hours later. Pakistan cricket has ploughed through four coaches, three board heads and four captains in the past two years, at the same time sliding down international rankings.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-32-cents and the euro at 19-rand-12-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-75-cents and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-597-dollars-5-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-644-dollars-62-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-74-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….