News 14:00

BULLETIN 24th October 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Witness C recounts a raid at Matlala’s mansion in search of kidnapped Jerry Boshoga
# Cele blames SAPS inconsistency on short-lived national commissioners
# And rugby: It’s the last weekend before the URC takes a breather for the November Tests

# A member of the political killings task team, Witness C, told the Madlanga commission that businessman Jerry Boshoga is still missing after being kidnapped last year. Testifying at a secret remote location with his face concealed, he said police raided the mansion of suspect tenderpreneur Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala in Pretoria and found illegal firearms stored unsafely with possibly falsified permits, along with items linked to ransom videos:

# Former Police minister Bheki Cele says the SAPS lacks consistency because national police commissioners rarely complete their terms. He told Parliament’s ad hoc committee that frequent leadership changes disrupt the development and implementation of the SAPS organogram. Cele noted that each commissioner leaves half-cooked work behind, preventing stability. He added that suspended minister Senzo Mchunu’s six-month reliance on an unfinished 2019 organogram was too short for sound decision-making:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa and Vietnam are committed to reducing barriers to trade and strengthening investment protection frameworks. Ramaphosa addressed the Vietnam-SA Business Forum in Hanoi. He says trade between South Africa and Vietnam is not only about goods and services, but also about trust, innovation and shared values. Ramaphosa says the forum is about shaping a shared vision of cooperation between the two countries:

# Rugby: The first part of the United Rugby Championship season will conclude this weekend. From a South African perspective, the Bulls play Glasgow Warriors in Scotland tonight, while the Lions host Ulster in Johannesburg tomorrow. The Sharks welcome Scarlets to Durban and log leaders, the Stormers, face Benetton in Italy. The Bulls are currently sixth on the log, the Lions 11th and the Sharks 14th. The competition takes a break after this weekend for next month’s international window, and will resume in the last weekend of November.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-35-cents and the euro at 20-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-10-cents and Bitcoin trades at 111-thousand-122-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-60-dollars-59-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-26-cents a barrel.

# And finally, Durban photographer Chris Clark has captured global attention after his image of two Mirror dinghies battling giant swells was selected among the top 120 finalists in the prestigious Pantaenius Yacht Racing Images competition. The Hillcrest local and member of the Hillcrest Camera Club took the shot during the Marriott Mirror Worlds regatta in April. Once a competitive sailor, he now channels his passion through photography. Public voting closes on 14 November, with the top entries set to be showcased in Amsterdam in the Netherlands next month.

Stay tuned for more news………….