News 07:00

BULLETIN 18 October 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Senzo Mchunu ordered secret recordings of the KZN Police commissioner
# The DA urges the Gauteng Education Department to pay service providers as learners miss meals
# And Donald Trump will meet Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in South Korea

# Police minister Senzo Mchunu says he instructed his chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, to record his conversations with KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Mchunu was testifying for a second day before Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating alleged police corruption. He said tensions escalated after Mkhwanazi reacted angrily to the disbandment of the political killings task team, prompting him to record their conversations, though the part with the alleged threat was cut from the audio:

# The DA says thousands of learners in Gauteng are going hungry after service providers for the national school nutrition programme were not paid. The party argues the problem affects nine schools in Tembisa and Ivory Park, urging Education MEC Matome Chiloane to urgently settle outstanding invoices. The DA’s Sergio Isa Dos Santos also demands an independent forensic investigation into how the programme is managed, citing mismanagement and last-minute changes that disrupt meal deliveries:

# The Mashishing Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga granted two-thousand-rand bail to four Limpopo police officers and one civilian arrested for a house robbery in Lydenburg. The conditions include avoiding the complainants’ residence, not interfering with them, and notifying authorities of any address changes. The suspects, including sergeant Lucky Shogolo and constables Thapelo Ledwaba, Malesela Huma, and Saraphina Senama, face further investigation after 1.5-million-rand in illicit cigarettes and 950-thousand-rand in cash were recovered. The next court appearance is on 21 January next year.

# US president Donald Trump told Fox News he will hold talks with China’s Xi Jinping during the upcoming APEC summit in South Korea. The Asian- Pacific summit will take place on 31 October and 1 November in the South Korean city of Gyeongju. Trump had threatened to scrap the meeting as he raised the stakes in his trade war with China, warning that he would impose 100-percent tariffs on goods from the world’s second-biggest economy.

# Road Running: The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon 2025 is taking place this weekend, with various races happening at the Cape Town Stadium. Today there will be feature trail runs over 11- and 22-kilometre distances, with 10- and 5-kilometre road runs. The main events for Sunday include the 42.4-kilometre marathon as well as a 41-, 10-, and 5-kilometre run. The favourites include South African record holder Elroy Gelant, along with top international contenders. In the women’s race, the favourites are headed by South Africa’s Gerda Steyn, facing stiff competition from elite runners from Kenya and Ethiopia.

# And finally: A Taiwanese airline has apologised for requesting paperwork from a dead employee, in the latest development of a case that has sparked widespread anger. A 34-year-old Eva Air flight attendant, surnamed Sun, died in the hospital after feeling unwell during a flight. According to news reports, the airline sent a message to her phone asking for documents proving that she had applied for leave for the time she was hospitalised. Sun’s family replied with a copy of her death certificate. Eva Air has been fined seven times before, mostly for offences related to staff overtime.

Stay tuned for more news………….