News 08:00

BULLETIN 28 October 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Justice deputy minister says corruption has weakened the moral authority of the state
# The deputy Police minister Cassel Mathale, will appear before Parliament’s ad hoc committee today
# And Numsa welcomes the Labour Court’s decision to reinstate the retrenched workers at ArcelorMittal

# Justice and Constitutional Development deputy minister, Andries Nel, says the fight against corruption and the protection of whistleblowers is a central pillar of the renewal of the state. He addressed the annual Whistleblowers Summit hosted by Public Interest South Africa in Johannesburg on Monday. Nel says corruption has weakened the moral authority of the state and eroded public faith in the institutions meant to serve them. He adds that when whistleblowers are silenced or unprotected, citizens conclude that truth itself is unsafe:

# Deputy minister of Police Cassel Mathale will be the sixth witness to testify at Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee today and tomorrow. The committee is examining the veracity of allegations of criminal infiltration and political interference in the criminal justice system. Mathale became the deputy minister in 2019 and worked with Police minister Senzo Mchunu and former minister Bheki Cele, who have both appeared before the committee. Mathale is expected to shed light on the functioning and disbandment of the political task team, amongst other issues.

# The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa has welcomed the Labour Court’s decision to reinstate all workers from Newcastle and Vereeniging, who were unfairly retrenched by ArcelorMittal South Africa earlier this month. AMSA unilaterally terminated the consultation process on retrenchments at the beginning of March and, without consultation, proceeded with dismissals. Numsa’s spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, says this is a victory for the union because it provides an opportunity to possibly look at alternatives to retrenchment:

# Jamaica’s prime minister, Andrew Holness, has warned that Hurricane Melissa, which is set to make landfall today, could have a significant impact on the region. The rare Category 5 storm was packing maximum winds of nearly 260 kilometres per hour, making it the strongest storm on Earth this year. At least three people are known to have died in Haiti as Melissa brought torrential rainfall to the island of Hispaniola. Holness says the government has a multi-layered disaster response framework in place:

# Rugby: Japan’s coach, Eddie Jones, doesn’t believe it’s impossible to go one better against the Springboks on Saturday after making the Wallabies work hard for victory in Tokyo last weekend. Australia only won 19-15 after leading 14-3 at half-time. Jones refers to Japan’s famous victory over South Africa in Brighton, England, during the 2015 World Cup. He says the Boks make mistakes when you put them under pressure. Bok coach Rassie Erasmus is expected to name his team this afternoon for the encounter at Wembley in London.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-27-cents and the euro at 20-rand-7-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-98-cents and Bitcoin trades at 113-thousand-972-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-990-dollars-97-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-90-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….