News 13:00

BULLETIN 10 October 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Parliamentary committees are encouraged by Eskom’s operational progress but debt remains a concern
# RISE Mzansi says 360-million-rand in overtime to keep politicians safe is concerning
# And tennis: Richard Gasquet is to bring an end to his 22-year career at the French Open

# Parliament’s standing committees on Public Accounts and Appropriations have welcomed efforts to turn around Eskom, but remain concerned about the financial viability of the power utility. The two committees held a joint oversight meeting at Eskom’s Megawatt Park head office in Sandton. Scopa chairperson, Songezo Zibi, says a solution must be found for recovering the 85-billion-rand owed by municipalities to Eskom:

# RISE Mzansi says keeping ministers and deputy ministers safe is increasingly becoming expensive for the state. Police minister Senzo Mchunu has revealed that in the last two financial years, 360-million-rand has been paid in overtime to members of the VIP Protection Unit. RISE Mzansi’s Makashule Gana says all Close Protection Officials are claiming the same number of hours for overtime per month, which is 100 hours, due to the extra-ordinary working hours:

# Gauteng represents 58-percent of all vehicle crime incidents in the country. This is according to data compiled by vehicle tracking solutions company Tracker. Tracker’s vehicle crime statistics for January to June reveal that at national level, hijackings still dominate, comprising 54-percent of all vehicle crime incidents, versus theft at 46-percent. Tracker’s Duma Ngcobo says at the moment, theft in Gauteng is greater than hijacking, most likely due to syndicates using keyless entry relay attacks to steal vehicles.

# Tennis: Former world number seven Richard Gasquet has announced that he will retire after the French Open next year. The 38-year-old Frenchman is a two-time Wimbledon semifinalist and a US Open semifinalist. His best outing at Roland Garros came in 2016 when he reached the quarterfinals. Gasquet has won 16 ATP Tour titles in his 22-year career. He says to retire in front of his home fans will be magnificent.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-59-cents and the euro at 19-rand-22-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-799-dollars-43-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-614-dollars-99-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Former judge Willem Heath, known for his efforts against corruption, has died at 79. Appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1995, he led the Heath Commission to investigate corruption in the Eastern Cape. Heath later headed the Special Investigating Unit until 2001. After leaving, he established Heath Executive Consultants which offered legal advice. In 2005, Heath advised former president Jacob Zuma on his corruption charges over the 1999 Arms Deal. He was internationally recognised for his expertise in fighting fraud and corruption.

Stay tuned for more news………….