News 08:00
BULLETIN 26 November 8 am
Good morning. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# The Commission for Gender Equality is keeping a close eye on the Oscar Pistorius matter
# The second group of Israel-Gaza war hostages returns to Israel
# And, rugby: Big URC victories for three South African teams
# The Commission for Gender Equality’s acting CEO, Dennis Matotoka, says they hope the conditions relating to former paralympic athlete, Oscar Pistorius’ release from prison will be adhered to without failure. The commission is particularly focused on the programme dealing with anger management and violence against women. Pistorius was responsible for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013. His parole comes into effect on 5 January. Matotoka says the commission will keep a close eye on the matter to make sure the parole conditions are met:
Meanwhile, the presiding officers of Parliament have committed to ensuring that the authority uses its constitutional powers of oversight to bolster national efforts to eradicate gender-based violence. They say the rate at which women and children are killed in South Africa every day is estimated to be five times higher than the global average. According to recent police quarterly crime statistics, there were ten-thousand-516 incidents of rape reported between July and September this year. The presiding officers urge all South Africans to double their efforts to help fight the scourge of violence against women and children.
# The DA in Johannesburg has received official confirmation that it’s motion to dissolve the Johannesburg Council has been successfully cleared by the programming committee and is set to be tabled by the end of this month. The DA’s Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku says this pivotal development marks a critical juncture for the political landscape of the city. She adds Johannesburg has regrettably become synonymous with cadre deployment, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and a systematic avoidance of accountability:
# Hamas has released 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals in a second round of swaps under a ceasefire deal. The Palestinian militant group initially delayed the exchange for several hours, claiming Israel had violated the terms of a truce deal. The 17 hostages were released to the Red Cross and have arrived in Israel, via Egypt. Shortly after midnight, Israel began releasing 39 Palestinian prisoners to east Jerusalem and the West Bank as part of the swap that ultimately went through after international mediation efforts.
# And, rugby: The Sharks’ returning Springboks made all the difference and helped them score ten tries to demolish the Dragons in Durban yesterday evening. In their first victory of the United Rugby Championship season, the Sharks won 69-14. For the Bulls, fullback Willie le Roux earlier dotted down on debut, powering the team to a bonus-point, 53-27 win over Connacht at Loftus. At Ellis Park, the Lions dominated Zebre, celebrating a 61-19 victory. The hosts scored nine tries to three by the Italian team.
Stay tuned for more news………….