News 14:00

BULLETIN 9 October 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Gauteng High Court dismisses Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s ten-million-rand gratuity claim with costs
# The ANC says Tshwane has deteriorated dramatically since the DA took over
# And a Nobel Prize winner sometimes regrets his life’s work that gained him recognition

# The Gauteng High Court has dismissed former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s bid to force her ex-employer to pay her a ten-million-rand gratuity. Judge Omphemetse Mooki ruled it absurd for an employer to reward an employee who left in disgrace. Mkhwebane, who was impeached for misconduct, had sought to declare the Public Protector’s refusal unconstitutional, but the judge found her claims non-specific and lacking merit.

# The ANC says since the DA took over the city of Tshwane in 2016, the capital has experienced a dramatic and sustained deterioration with regard to governance and service delivery to communities. ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri says eight years of DA-led coalitions and five mayors have achieved nothing other than driving the city to the brink of administrative collapse. She says Tshwane is a shadow of its former self:

# AfriForum has reiterated its warning to the public not to be misled by the Department of Basic Education’s claims that the BELA Act does not threaten school governing bodies. According to AfriForum’s Alana Bailey, Gauteng officials aim to undermine single-medium Afrikaans schools, alter admission and language policies, pushing for more English instruction. She has urged public pressure to safeguard Afrikaans schools during upcoming policy discussions:

# Cricket: New Zealand batter Kane Williamson will miss the first Test against India in Bengaluru due to a groin strain. He experienced discomfort during the second Test against Sri Lanka and will need to undergo rehabilitation before joining the squad in India. Uncapped batter Mark Chapman has been added to the 16-man squad as cover for Williamson. Allrounder Michael Bracewell will only be available for the first Test before departing for the birth of his second child and Ish Sodhi will be his replacement.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-59-cents and the euro at 19-rand-29-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-2-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-179-dollars-74-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-616-dollars-71-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-80-cents a barrel.

# And finally: One of the two scientists rewarded this year’s Nobel Prize for Physics yesterday says he sometimes regrets his life’s work on artificial intelligence. Canadian John Hinton and American John Hopfield were recognised for laying the foundation of A-I, but Hinton last year warned the discovery could lead to the end of humanity. He then stepped down from Google because of his concerns about A-I, explaining it was difficult to prevent bad people from using it for bad things. The two experts share the prize money of over 19.2-million-rand.

Stay tuned for more news………….