News 17:00

BULLETIN 28 October 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA urges government to tackle the shortage of environmental health practitioners amid the food poisoning crisis
# A Klawer man is found guilty of killing 13-year-old Jerobejin van Wyk in February 2022
# And soccer: Manchester United sacks Erik ten Hag

# The DA is urging government to address a serious shortage of environmental health practitioners amid rising food poisoning cases. The party’s Michele Clarke says this shortage affects food inspections, especially in crowded areas, putting public health at risk. Clarke calls for emergency funding to hire more environmental health practitioners and prevent further health issues related to unsafe food:

# A man from Klawer in the Western Cape had been found guilty of the gruesome killing of local teenager Jerobejin van Wyk in February 2022. The High Court in Cape Town accepted 58-year-old Daniel Smit’s guilty plea on five charges against him – murder, premeditated murder, kidnapping, violating a corpse and defeating the ends of justice. He killed the 13-year-old after accusing him of stealing his fruit, and dumped his body parts in drains on his property. Smit will be sentenced at a later stage.

# Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister, Velenkosini Hlabisa, says his department is engaging National Treasury on extra funding mechanisms to deal with disasters. He briefed the media on the summer season state of readiness, covering disaster management centres, fire services, and grant support for affected municipalities. Hlabisa advocates for a multidisciplinary approach to prepare for severe weather events:

# A comedian performing at a Donald Trump rally has come under fire after he labelled Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. Tony Hinchcliffe also made crude remarks about the Puerto Rican attitude to family planning methods before Trump took to the stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The comments sparked significant criticism including among Republican and Democrat politicians. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign, Danielle Alvarez, said the joke did not reflect the views of Trump or the campaign.

# Soccer: Manchester United has fired coach Erik ten Hag after two-and-a-half years in charge. Despite winning the 2023 Carabao Cup and 2024 FA Cup, the club missed out on Champions League qualification . The Dutchman has struggled this season, leaving United 14th in the Premier League, their worst start in 35 years. United lost 2-1 to West Ham in the Premier League yesterday. Legendary forward and assistant coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy, will step in as interim head coach while the search for a permanent manager begins.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-72-cents and the euro at 19-rand-17-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-2-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-896-dollars-52-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-738-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-91-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….