News 15:00

BULLETIN 28 October 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The TRC inquiry slams government departments for withholding key information
# The DA demands the immediate reinforcement of police resources on the Cape Flats
# And tennis: Jannik Sinner becomes the seventh men’s player to reach 50-million-dollars in ATP prize money

# The judicial commission of inquiry into Truth and Reconciliation Commission cases has expressed frustration over the lack of cooperation from key government departments for failing to provide requested information, including affidavits and reports. The police, the Justice Department, the Presidency, and Parliament have not responded to requests for information on old TRC cases. Spokesperson Lionel Adendorf confirmed that despite these challenges, public hearings will start as scheduled on 10 November:

# The trial of convicted murderer Rassie Nkune, accused of kidnapping and killing the daughter of politician Godrich Gardee, Hillary, three years ago, has started at the Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela. Proceedings were delayed last week after Nkune dismissed his legal aid lawyer. Judge Lindiwe Vuyeka stressed fairness despite tight timelines in the trial set to run for six weeks. Nkune, facing 12 charges, is already serving a life sentence for two other murders from 2022.

# The DA in the Western Cape demands that national government must immediately reinforce police resources in all high-crime precincts on the Cape Flats in Cape Town. The party says at least 22 murders were reported across Cape Flats communities over the weekend. The DA’s Benedicta van Minnen says detectives are drowning under impossible caseloads, stations are crippled by high vacancy rates, and operational capacity is collapsing, yet national police management remains silent and unmoved:

Moving abroad:

# President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine needs European financial support to continue fighting Russian forces for another two or three years. Kyiv has been largely dependent on military and financial support from allies abroad to hold off Moscow’s army after the full-scale invasion in February 2022. European Union leaders last week tasked the European Commission to move ahead with options for funding Ukraine for two more years, leaving the door open for a mammoth loan using tens of billions of euros in Russian state assets that the bloc has frozen.

# Tennis: Jannik Sinner’s victory over German Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final of the Vienna Open in Austria brought his ATP career prize money to 50-million-dollar – about 863-million-rand. The Italian became the seventh men’s player in history to reach the milestone. The others were Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Swiss maestro Roger Federer, who have all earned over 100-million dollars, Briton Andy Murray, Zverev and current world number one, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain. These figures don’t include the players’ endorsements or participation in exhibition events.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-25-cents and the euro at 20-rand-11-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-96-cents and Bitcoin trades at 114-thousand-575-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-919-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-5-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….