News 08:00

BULLETIN 21 October 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa urges BRICS to participate in the growth of South Africa
# Shamila Batohi says the attack on her deputy is carefully coordinated
# And motorsport: Charles Leclerc wins the US Grand Prix

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa is ready to play its part in realising the economic potential of Brics. The nine-member bloc, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, accounts for 27-percent of the global growth-domestic product and a fifth of the world’s exports. Addressing the BRICS Business Forum meeting virtually, Ramaphosa urged countries to participate in the growth of South Africa and the rest of the African continent:

# National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi says the State Security Agency’s refusal of Anton du Plessis’ security clearance is being weaponised in a politically motivated smear campaign. According to City Press, Batohi’s deputy failed the vetting process when the SSA discovered he held dual South African-British citizenship. Reportedly, the vetting process was halted when Du Plessis refused to revoke his British citizenship. Batohi told News24 that the refusal of Du Plessis’ security clearance was meant to distract and destabilise the National Prosecuting Authority. 

# The Minerals Council South Africa says jointly with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources and organised labour, they are committed to eliminating health and safety incidents across the mining industry. Since 1994, the number of fatalities in mines has decreased by 88-percent with injuries decreasing by 75-percent. The industry reported a record-low 49 fatalities in 2022. The council says the new safety milestones for the next ten years include mining companies having a target of zero fatalities and reducing falls of ground-related reportable accidents by 20-percent a year.

# Gauteng MEC of Finance and Economic Development, Lebogang Maile, says they cannot simply shut down foreign-owned spaza shops in response to public outcry over food poisoning incidents. The provincial Health Department has documented a total of 203 food poisoning cases between February and September this year, resulting in six fatalities. Maile says foreign-owned shops have introduced unfair competition in the township economy:

# Motorsport: Charles Leclerc won the United States Grand Prix leading teammate Carlos Sainz to a dominant one-two for Ferrari. McLaren’s Lando Norris lost third place to title rival Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after receiving a five-second time penalty for overtaking outside of the track limits. Norris finished fourth ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri. Verstappen has extended his drivers’ championship lead over Norris to 57 points with five races left. Leclerc says it was a straightforward race for him:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-58-cents and the euro at 19-rand-11-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-95-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-813-dollars-99-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-732-dollars-6-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-33-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….