News 07:00

BULLETIN 7 October 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Gwarube is resolving the delays in stipend payments to Education Assistants
# The former Transnet boss Brian Molefe will face the High Court
# And tennis: Zverev is knocked out of the Shanghai Masters, leaving Djokovic as the highest-ranked player

# Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, has expressed concern regarding the delays in stipend payments to Education Assistants employed through the Basic Education Employment Initiative. The Department of Employment and Labour blamed minister Gwarube’s department for the delayed payments for September, saying not all the required documents, including attendance registers, were submitted on time. Department of Basic Education’s spokesperson, Terence Khala, says that to urgently address this matter minister Gwarube will convene a high-level meeting with all key stakeholders:

# Former Transnet CEO Brian Molefe is set to face the high court in a multimillion-rand corruption case linked to irregular locomotive contracts. The Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Gauteng has postponed the case to 18 November for the provision of an indictment. Investigating Directorate Against Corruption spokesperson Henry Mamothame says Molefe, along with former executives Anoj Singh, Siyabonga Gama, and Thamsanqa Jiyane, faces 17 charges, including fraud and corruption:

# The Competition Tribunal has found steel and wire products company Cape Gate guilty of fixing the purchase price of scrap metal, contravening the Competition Act. Scrap metal, a vital input for steel production, was at the centre of a buyers’ cartel involving Cape Gate, ArcelorMittal South Africa, Columbus Stainless, and Scaw South Africa. While ArcelorMittal South Africa and Columbus settled, and Scaw sought leniency, Cape Gate denied wrongdoing. The tribunal dismissed its defences, with remedies to follow.

# The DA in Gauteng is concerned that the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital is still not fully compliant with fire prevention measures. A fire broke out in ward 196 on the ninth floor on Monday afternoon, with no deaths or injuries reported. The blaze was reportedly started by a disgruntled patient, who set a bed alight in a cubicle. The DA’s Jack Bloom says they will continue to press for adequate fire prevention and suppression in all public hospitals:

# The US Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from Jeffrey Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell against her sex-trafficking conviction. She was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in 2022 for carrying out a years-long scheme with Epstein to groom and sexually abuse underage girls. Epstein died in prison in 2019. Maxwell’s appeal centred on an argument that she was protected by a 2008 non-prosecution agreement made between Epstein and Florida prosecutors that covered co-conspirators. The 63-year-old has presidential clemency as her only option left for early release.

# Tennis: World number three Alexander Zverev was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, leaving Novak Djokovic as the tournament’s top-ranked player. In stifling conditions, the 54th-ranked Frenchman came back from a set down to stun an increasingly rattled Zverev into submission. On Sunday, the competition lost both defending champion Jannik Sinner, who was forced to retire due to extreme leg cramps, and fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-18-cents and the euro at 20-rand-11-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 124-thousand-625-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-958-dollars-38-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-43-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….