News 07:00

BULLETIN 6th January 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A Home Affairs official is nabbed for selling illegal IDs to undocumented foreign nationals
# The Medical Association Trade Union calls for the placement of graduate doctors
# And, motorsport: Audi ace Ekstrom wins the Dakar Rally time-trial

# A 37-year-old Home Affairs official in Upington in the Northern Cape was apprehended by the Anti-Corruption Investigating Unit for allegedly selling illegal identity documents to undocumented foreign nationals. The official was caught red-handed, accepting cash for providing fraudulent documents. She faces corruption charges and will appear in the local Magistrate’s Court. The department faces an ongoing problem of corruption, with previous cases involving officials selling documents to undocumented foreigners. The unit vows to continue rooting out corruption and bringing perpetrators to justice.

# The South African Medical Association Trade Union has called for the placement of graduate doctors. The organisation reported that over 800 qualified doctors remain unemployed following the completion of their medical internship and community service. SAMATU general secretary Cedric Sihlangu says there are also medical interns in Gauteng who are collecting their first paycheck after two months of non-payment:

Meanwhile, the Department of Health says a total number of two-thousand-101 eligible community service personnel and two-thousand-210 medical interns have been placed at various facilities across the country as of this week Tuesday. Two-hundred-and-twenty applicants for community service doctors are not yet eligible to commence duty this month, because they started their internships late. The department’s spokesperson, Foster Mohale says as a result, they will only be allocated posts later in the year:

# Bangladesh is set to hold its general elections tomorrow. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina is poised to secure a fourth consecutive term and fifth overall for her Awami League-led alliance. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party vowed to boycott the polls after Hasina refused to step down after ruling since 2009. The election will see 15-million first-time voters participate, with one-thousand-896 candidates competing for 300 parliamentary seats, 5.1-percent of which are women. Hasina has been credited with revitalising the nation’s economy and its substantial garment industry.

# And finally, Motorsport: Audi’s Mattias Ekstrom was fastest on the 27-kilometre Dakar Rally prologue raced over the desert sands of Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia. Double defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah made a slight detour and ended the day 12th. Swede Ekstrom set a time of 16 minutes and 30 seconds, some 23 seconds ahead of the American Seth Quintero of Toyota, making his debut at this level. French veteran Sebastien Loeb came in third at 38 seconds in a promising start. The times provide a choice of starting position for today’s opener.

Stay tuned for more news………….