News 06:00

BULLETIN 4 November 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA introduces the Anti-Corruption Bill in Parliament
# The police call for calm following another suspected poison death
# And Spain’s King and Queen are confronted by angry crowds

# The DA says it has introduced the Constitution Twenty-First Amendment Bill, also known as the Anti-Corruption Bill to Parliament. The DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach says as promised in the party’s 2024 Election Manifesto, the Bill seeks to introduce an Anti-Corruption Commission as an independent, Chapter 9 institution, focused solely on investigating and prosecuting serious corruption cases. She says currently, the National Prosecuting Authority is the only institution with the power to prosecute those accused of serious corruption and high-level organised crime.

# The Right to Early Childhood Development says the government has no plans to invest in universal access to quality early childhood development services and to end child hunger by 2030. The Right to ECD’s Tshepo Mantjé says child poverty and hunger have increased during the period of austerity since 2016. Thirty years into democracy, one in four children under five are stunted by chronic malnutrition:

# Gauteng Police Commissioner Tommy Mthombeni has called for calm in Alexandra following the death of a nine-year-old girl. She allegedly ate suspected contaminated snacks from a local spaza shop. The girl’s mother and her four-year-old sibling are in a critical condition in hospital. Angry community members reportedly took to the streets and attempted to shut down a tuck shop where the victims allegedly bought snacks. Mthombeni urges the public not to speculate but to allow investigators space to do their work and uncover the truth behind this incident.

# The MK Party president Jacob Zuma says it has entrusted the KwaZulu-Natal provincial leader Willies Mchunu with the sole prerogative of taking decisions on behalf of the Party in the province, in consultation with the provincial working team. The party’s provincial interim committee in its original form was disbanded and replaced by the newly appointed convener. Zuma says the party should embark on aggressive resource mobilisation to ensure self-reliance and smooth operations of the administration as well as the implementation of the political programmes.

# Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia had to be evacuated from Paiporta in the Valencia region, after facing angry protests, following unprecedented floods. They were mocked and had mud and objects thrown at them. This led to them suspending a planned trip to Chiva, another area hit by flooding. At least 214 people have died in the flash floods with dozens still missing. The slow and uncoordinated response to the crisis has infuriated many in Valencia. Regional governor Carlos Mazon says he understood people’s anger.

# Rugby: England prop Joe Marler has called time on his international playing career. This is the second time he has retired having reversed his 2018 decision to step away from test rugby. The 34-year-old, who made his England debut in 2012, has won 95 caps. He played in the 2015, 2019, and 2023 World Cups and was part of the three Six Nations-winning sides in 2016, 2017, and 2020. Marler says it is time for him to move on:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-58-cents and the euro at 19-rand-12-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-70-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-732-dollar-40-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-739-dollars-5-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-14-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….