News 16:00

BULLETIN 5 November 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Tiffany Meek murder case is transferred to the High Court for pre-trial
# Cachalia calls for the strengthening of Crime Intelligence and accountability within law enforcement
# And TLU SA is concerned about the sustainability of wheat farmers

# The case of Gauteng woman Tiffany Meek, accused of murdering her young son, has been transferred to the High Court in Johannesburg for a pre-trial hearing on the 20th of this month. She appeared in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court again today on charges of murder and defeating the ends of justice. This follows after her eleven-year-old son, Jayden-Lee, was found dead at their block of flats in Fleurhof, Johannesburg, earlier this year. Meek remains in custody after being denied bail. She continues to maintain her innocence.

# Acting Police minister Firoz Cachalia has called for urgent strengthening of Crime Intelligence and improved accountability across law enforcement. Appearing before the Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating police corruption, Cachalia warned that weaknesses in oversight and politicisation of law enforcement have undermined the system, leaving it unable to self-correct. He says fighting organised crime needs strong leadership, transparency, and better coordination across police and intelligence agencies:

# Agricultural organisation, TLU SA, says it is pleased with South Africa’s grain producers for delivering a record-breaking harvest this season. The country’s total grain and oilseed harvest has exceeded 23-million tonnes, a 30-percent increase compared to last year. Maize harvest alone is at 16.33-million tons, well over the national need of 12-million tons. TLU SA’s Bennie van Zyl says, despite the record grain harvest, they remain concerned about the sustainability of wheat farmers:

# The Road Accident Fund has paid out a record 5.5-billion-rand in October, marking its highest monthly payout for the 2025/26 financial year. This follows 4.2-billion-rand in September, bringing total payouts since April to 20.2-billion-rand, up from 16-billion-rand in previous years. RAF interim chair Kenneth Brown says this reflects progress in stabilising the institution under the new board, which is tackling governance, financial, and human resources challenges.

# Cricket: England’s bowler Mark Wood says they are quietly confident of ending their Ashes drought in this season’s series, starting in Perth on the 21st. The country last won the coveted urn in 2015 and had not won a series in Australia since 2011. Wood says there’s a different feeling in the squad with more confidence and belief under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. England has a very strong fast-bowling line-up this time, featuring Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-45-cents and the euro at 20-rand-5-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-75-cents and Bitcoin trades at 102-thousand-553-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-963-dollars-41-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-12-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….