News 15:00

BULLETIN 21 October 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Suspended Police minister Senzo Mchunu denies hosting the ANC’s January 8th dinner allegedly funded by ‘Cat’ Matlala
# Japan’s new prime minister includes just two other women in her 19-member cabinet
# And soccer: Ousmane Dembele is in PSG’s squad to face Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League

# Suspended Police minister Senzo Mchunu has dismissed claims that he hosted the ANC’s January 8th celebration dinner funded by controversial businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. Testifying before Parliament, Mchunu clarified that he was not in Cape Town at the time, attending memorials and funerals in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. He said he never organised, attended, or instructed anyone to arrange such a dinner on his behalf:

Meanwhile, the EFF leader Julius Malema has questioned how Mchunu’s lawyers obtained an affidavit from Matlala, who is detained at Kgosi Mampuru C-Max Prison. Mchunu told Parliament his lawyers acted on their own initiative, prompting Malema to warn of serious consequences if they did so without instruction. Mchunu then clarified to evidence leader, Norman Arendse, that he had expressed a wish to obtain clarity directly from Matlala:

# The Constitutional Court has ruled that the Municipal Employees Pension Fund had the necessary legal standing to challenge the City of Johannesburg’s approval of a rezoning application by Nordic Light Properties. The court found the fund was directly affected after acquiring ownership of the Nicolway Bryanston Shopping Centre, also known as the  Winifred Mandela Precinct. The matter, previously dismissed by the Gauteng High Court, has been remitted for a full hearing on the merits. Respondents were ordered to pay costs.

Moving abroad:

# Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, named just two other women in her 19-strong cabinet, despite previously promising Nordic levels of representation in her government. They included the country’s first female Finance minister, Satsuki Katayama. Takaichi, an admirer of former British premier Margaret Thatcher, was named Japan’s first woman prime minister this morning. In Japanese politics and boardrooms, women are rare. The country ranked 118 out of 148 in the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Gender Gap Report. Nordic nations Iceland, Finland and Norway occupied the top three places.

# Soccer: Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele was included in Paris Saint-Germain’s squad to face Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League tonight after a six-week injury layoff. Dembele has been out since injuring a hamstring while on international duty with France in early September. He had been recuperating at a specialist clinic in Qatar and returned to training last week. Dembele could play some role in Germany as the European champions seek to make it three wins out of three in the Champions League so far this season.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-30-cents and the euro at 20-rand-11-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 108-thousand-503-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-260-dollars-98-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 61-dollars-36-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….