News 18:00

BULLETIN 15 January 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Dumisani Khumalo warns Senzo Mchunu’s recruitment-halt crippled crime intelligence
# The DA insists the Federal Legal Commission process will continue despite Dion George’s resignation
# And, SANParks temporarily suspends day visitor access to Kruger National Park due to heavy rain

# SAPS Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo told Parliament’s ad hoc committee into political interference in the justice system that suspended Police minister Senzo Mchunu’s directive to stop all recruitment severely impacted the division. Khumalo said the freeze left the posts of four provincial heads vacant, critical senior management roles were unfilled, and key units like cyber operations remained understaffed. He added that existing personnel are working around the clock to maintain operations:

# The DA has confirmed the resignation of its member of Parliament and former Environment, Forestry and Fisheries minister, Dion George. His departure comes before a pending disciplinary process by the party’s Federal Legal Commission, which includes allegations of inflated staff salaries, misuse of departmental information, and bringing the party into disrepute. DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille says the process will continue under the federal executive, and wished George well in his future endeavours.

# SANParks has temporarily suspended day visits to Kruger National Park due to heavy and persistent rainfall in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The decision aims to focus on safety and emergency response, with Letaba rest camp evacuating staff and guests due to flooding from the Letaba River. Phalaborwa gate is also closed, limiting access to the northern parts of the park. SANParks spokesperson JP Louw says the situation is being closely monitored:

# Soccer: Over 500-million requests have been received for tickets for this year’s World Cup in North America. The random selection draw phase started early last month and ended this week. Successful applicants will now be put into a pool from where everyone has an equal chance of being drawn to earn the chance of buying a ticket. Unsuccessful applicants still have a chance in subsequent sales phases as additional tickets become available. The tournament in Canada, the US and Mexico starts on the 11th of June.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-37-cents and the euro at 19-rand-1-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-92-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-764-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-603-dollars-97-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-40-cents a barrel.

# And lastly, four astronauts evacuated from the International Space Station have landed back on Earth after their stay in space was cut short by a month due to a serious medical issue.  The team will now receive medical checks before being flown back to land after the splash-down off the coast of California. It is unlikely the identity of the crew member or details of the health issue will be released. The astronauts arrived at the space station on 1 August and were due to leave mid-February.

Stay tuned for more news………….