News 08:00

BULLETIN 31 October 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The US sets its refugee ceiling at seven-thousand-500 with a priority to white Afrikaners
# The ANC welcomes the court ruling confirming that Chief Albert Luthuli was killed by the apartheid police
# And Maimane says motions of no confidence must be regulated

# President Donald Trump’s administration has announced that it will significantly cap the number of refugees admitted to the US every year to seven-thousand-500. Priority will be given to white Afrikaners from South Africa and other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands. This marks a dramatic cut from the previous limit of 125-thousand set by former president Joe Biden and will bring the cap to a record low. The administration says humanitarian concerns justify this decision or that it is otherwise in the national interest.

# The ANC says the ruling by the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, confirming Chief Albert Luthuli was killed by apartheid police, restores truth, dignity, and justice to his legacy and South Africa’s history. The court overturned the apartheid-era inquest that falsely claimed Luthuli died after being hit by a train in 1967. ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu commended the Luthuli family, human rights lawyers, and historians for ensuring the truth was finally uncovered:

# The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa will be marching to the offices of the National Treasury in Pretoria today. The union is demanding that the government stop doing business with security companies that are not complying with collective agreements. Numsa’s national spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, says some of the non-compliant companies include Modise Security, Mjayeli Security, Kya Guard Security, and Urban Ithuba Security:

# Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane says motions of no confidence are being abused in the City of Johannesburg because they are not regulated. This comes as mayor Dada Morero is facing a motion of no confidence brought by his coalition partners in the government of local unity. Maimane says there should be a law at the local government level that says political parties can introduce a motion of no confidence once a year, similar to the National Assembly.

# Tennis: World number two Jannik Sinner is through to the Paris Masters quarterfinals for the first time. The Italian defeated Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, 7-5, 6-1, to keep alive his hopes of returning to the world number one ranking. Sinner will face Ben Shelton next, after the American defeated Russia’s Andrey Rublev, 7-6, 6-3. Germany’s Alexander Zverev continued his title defence with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Spain’s Davidovich Fokina. Russia’s Daniil Medvedev beat Italian Lorenzo Sonego, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, to remain in contention for the season-ending ATP finals.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-29-cents and the euro at 20-rand-1-cent. One British pound costs 22-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-96-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-dollars-77-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….