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BULLETIN 24 October 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Education minister has no plans to scrap the 30-percent pass mark
# Parliament’s Police committee adopts a framework for extortion
# And the Hawks say more arrests are expected in the Liebenberg case

# The minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube says there are no immediate plans to raise the 30-percent matric pass mark to 50-percent. She aims to appoint an advisory council to guide reforms in the education sector. The Build One South Africa party has called for a minimum 50-percent pass mark, arguing that lower standards harm learners’ prospects. The minister emphasised that any change would require expert advice and benchmarking with international standards.

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Police has unanimously adopted an oversight framework to ensure a more focused and intense monitoring of interventions to end the rising tide of extortions. In July last year, Public Works and Infrastructure minister, Sihle Zikalala, revealed that the construction mafias are costing the economy an estimated 68-billion-rand. The committee says a well-resourced intervention plan is necessary to ensure the deployment of skilled officers, with the capabilities necessary to effectively fight the current scourge. 

# The Hawks has confirmed that more arrests are expected in a four-billion-rand diamond investment scheme. Nine suspects, including diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg and his wife, Dezzi, have been arrested. They will appear in the Bronkhorstspruit Magistrate’s Court today, facing fraud, theft, money laundering, and racketeering charges. Hawks spokesperson Philani Nkwalase told Newzroom Afrika that investors were defrauded since 2019:

# Metalworkers union Numsa will today stage a picket at Denel’s Centurion offices in Gauteng, due to management’s refusal to grant salary increases for the past five years. The union blames the government’s push to privatise Denel for the ongoing struggles of its employees. Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola claims workers have faced significant hardships due to salary cutbacks, which have left many financially and psychologically devastated:

# Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has confirmed that a possible successor to its late leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an attack in Beirut nearly three weeks ago. The Israel Defence Forces revealed on Tuesday evening that Hashem Safieddine was killed when they attacked the underground intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah. Safieddine was the head of the militant group’s executive council and was a cousin of Nasrallah. The IDF accused Safieddine of directing terrorist attacks against Israel for years. Hezbollah has yet to name a successor to Nasrallah.

# Cricket: England captain Ben Stokes believes spin bowlers will feature heavily in the third and final Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, which begins today. England won the first Test by an innings and 47 runs before Pakistan levelled the series with a 152-run victory in Multan on a surface that offered plenty of turn. Pakistan are expected to create a similar pitch in Rawalpindi. Stokes says he will be backing the three spinners they have in the squad:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-80-cents and the euro at 19-rand-20-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-1-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-221-dollar-49-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-724-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-62-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….