News 06:00

BULLETIN 9 October 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The National Assembly acknowledges Hlophe’s resignation from the Judicial Service Commission
# Fikile Mbalula is concerned over leaked correspondence regarding Panyaza Lesufi
# And Joe Biden warns that Hurricane Milton could be the worst to hit Florida in a century

# The National Assembly has announced that it cannot appoint a replacement for MK Party’s deputy president John Hlophe on the Judicial Service Commission for the judges’ interviews. This follows the party’s withdrawal of Hlophe’s nomination and resignation from the JSC. Parliamentary spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, confirmed that while the process to find a new member will start, the timing of the resignation means no replacement can be appointed for the current round of interviews: 

# The DA has criticised the insufficient actions taken against officials responsible for delaying the reporting of Thabo Bester’s escape from Mangaung Correctional Centre in the Free State. According to the party, these officials only received reassignment and final warnings, which it deems insufficient for such serious negligence. The DA’s Janho Engelbrecht is urging Correctional Services minister Pieter Groenewald to explain this lack of accountability stating that it undermines public trust in the justice system and perpetuates a culture of impunity within the department. 

# ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula has expressed concern over leaked internal correspondence regarding Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi. In a media briefing, he criticised media speculation and disinformation that could harm the ANC’s reputation. The correspondence addressed Lesufi’s public comments on the government of national unity and local coalitions, which Mbalula stressed should be handled internally:

# The Western Cape says it needs over 3.5-billion-rand to repair damages due to disasters such as flooding over the last two years. The provincial Disaster Management Centre responded to ten disasters between June 2023 and August this year. Areas affected include the Cape Winelands, Riverlands, the Central Karoo, and Cape Town. The province’s chief director of disaster management, Colin Deiner, says preliminary damage assessments for the June flooding alone showed a 762-million-rand budget shortfall and a 1.4-billion-rand shortfall for the July flooding.

# US president Joe Biden says Hurricane Milton could be one of the worst storms to hit Florida in over a century. The hurricane classified as category four is expected to bring life-threatening conditions to parts of Florida when it makes landfall today. The storm comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene hit, killing at least 225 people across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina. Biden has urged those in the storm’s path to evacuate immediately:

# Tennis: Former world number one Novak Djokovic is still on course to clinch the 100th title of his glittering career in China. The Serb demolished young Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 6-2 to reach the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters. The 37-year-old only conceded seven points on serve throughout the match. Djokovic plays Roman Safiullin of Russia for a place in the quarterfinals. American Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer of Switzerland are the only two players in history to win 100 professional tournaments.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-57-cents and the euro at 19-rand-30-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-3-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-170-dollar-80-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-622-dollars-10-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-43-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….