News 06:00

BULLETIN 6 October 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma welcomes the court’s ruling on her allegations against Fikile Mbalula
# Over 200 Amarok vehicles are recalled over a possible airbag fault
# And, three scientists receive the Nobel Prize for their research on the brain

# ANC National Executive Committee member Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has welcomed a ruling by the High Court in Johannesburg in her dispute with ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, whom she accused of vote-buying. The court did not order a retraction or apology but directed that the matter be decided through oral evidence. Dlamini-Zuma says she will cooperate with the court process while calling for an honest look at the use of money in ANC internal elections. She added she will not comment further on the matter publicly.

# Deputy minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, says traditional leaders have an important role to play in the fight against gender-based violence and femicide. Last week, president Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed government’s commitment to confronting this scourge with urgency through a four-point recovery plan to strengthen the national response. Letsike says traditional leaders, as custodians of culture and community moral fibre, can challenge harmful patriarchal norms that perpetuate gender-based violence and femicide. She adds that they can also leverage traditional councils and courts as centres for justice.

# The National Consumer Commission has announced a safety recall affecting 291 Volkswagen Amarok vehicles sold in South Africa between June and September this year. The Commission’s Phetho Ntaba says the curtain airbags may not fully deploy during a front or side impact because of contact with a vehicle component. Ntaba urged owners to take affected vehicles to an approved Volkswagen dealer for free repairs:

# KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, says officials will continue monitoring the situation at the Zoo Informal Settlement following a fire that destroyed about 40 structures. The blaze broke out on Sunday morning in uMngeni Municipality, leaving scores of residents displaced. The department’s Siboniso Mngadi says no deaths or critical injuries have been reported:

# The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists: American Karl Deisseroth and his German colleagues Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel. This is for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. The trio’s research led to the development of a light-sensitive switch that can be used to control nerve cells in the living brain, switching them on or off. Nobel Committee member professor Anna Wedell says this research provides a better understanding of the brain:

# Rugby: The Stormers can count on the experience of versatile Springbok forward Deon Fourie to help sort out their line-out woes at the start of the United Rugby Championship. The Cape Town team beat Connacht in Ireland before losing to Edinburgh in Scotland. Forty-year-old Fourie returns from international duty before Saturday’s match against the Sharks, together with fellow Boks Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse, Wilco Louw, Paul de Villiers, Deon Fourie and Cobus Reinach. He says it isn’t fair to just blame the hooker for lost line-outs.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-63-cents and the euro at 18-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 85-thousand-952-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-143-dollars-80-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 103-dollars-39-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….