News 07:00

BULLETIN 30 October 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Chidimma Adetshina and her mother’s IDs are withdrawn
# Hezbollah has a new leader continuing the struggle against Israel
# And tennis: Jannik Sinner withdraws from the Paris Masters

# The Department of Home Affairs says it will revoke the identity and travel documents of former Miss South Africa finalist Chidimma Adetshina and her Mozambican-born mother. This is after they failed to respond to the department by the 28 October deadline, to provide reasons for retaining their documents. Adetshina’s participation in the Miss South Africa beauty pageant sparked controversy when her citizenship was questioned. The department’s director-general, Tommy Makhode, says the two are facing probable fraud charges:

# The Correctional Services Committee in Parliament will oversee remedial actions against individuals involved in Thabo Bester’s prison escape. This follows a briefing on the Public Protector’s report, which highlighted failures by the Department of Correctional Services in handling Bester’s escape from Mangaung prison in the Free State. Parliamentary legal adviser Bulelani Simani confirmed that they will ensure the department takes the necessary steps to address the issues raised in the report and hold accountable those responsible: 

# The National Energy Regulator of South Africa has approved four new electricity trading licences and the country’s first private import-export licence, despite opposition from Eskom. Licences were issued to CBI Electric Apollo, Discovery Green, Green Electron Market, and GreenCo Power Services. Eskom objected, arguing that multiple traders in one supply area could harm operations. Nersa upheld that the Electricity Regulation Act promotes competition. The regulator emphasised the need to develop rules for electricity trading and wheeling going forward.

# Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya says she remains committed to the council’s financial rescue mission. The debtor’s book stands at over 24.3-billion-rand as of 30 September, with the bulk of the debtors, 72.8-percent, are households that owe 17.7-billion-rand. Tshwane owes Eskom 7.8-billion-rand and Rand Water 517-million-rand. Moya says the situation in the metro was so bad that money needed to be redirected away from planned programmes:

# Hezbollah has elected its deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, as its new head. He replaces long-term leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut last month. Qassem is one of the few leaders of the Iran-backed group to survive Israel’s recent onslaught on the organisation, which has seen some of its key figures assassinated. He has vowed that Hezbollah would continue fighting Israel in what it described as a war of attrition.

# Tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner of Italy won’t take part in the Paris Masters. He was set to play his first match today, but announced yesterday an intestinal virus will keep him out of the tournament. Sinner is replaced by local qualifier Arthur Cazaux. He is already assured of the number one ranking at the end of the season. Sinner still plans to play in the ATP Finals in Turin in his home country and the Davis Cup Finals in Málaga, Spain, next month.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-64-cents and the euro at 19-rand-9-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-95-cents and Bitcoin trades at 72-thousand-357-dollar-7-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-781-dollars-50-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-40-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….