News 09:00

BULLETIN 25 October 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA calls for the Public Works tender transparency programme to be extended
# Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife appeals for help to safely remove elephants
# And boxing: Tyson Fury aims for a knockout in his Oleksandr Usyk rematch

# The DA has commended Public Works and Infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson, for his announcement in the National Assembly, where he pledged to open the tender evaluation and awarding process to full public scrutiny. The DA’s Edwin Macrae Bath says the introduction of audio and visual recordings to document the tender process is a significant move towards fostering transparency and trust in public procurement. He says the party now challenge all other government departments to follow this example:

# The Patriotic Alliance made significant gains in a by-election in the George municipality on Wednesday. The party doubled its support since the 2021 local government elections and retained a key seat in the municipality. The DA retained two wards in the City of Cape Town and Stellenbosch during the by-elections. The GOOD Party, meanwhile, filed a complaint with the IEC against both the PA and the DA. The party claimed, without providing evidence, that representatives of the PA and DA offered voters food parcels and threatened people if they voted for another party.

# Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife is urging non-governmental organisations to provide non-lethal solutions for handling a herd of about 30 elephants that escaped from a game reserve in KwaMpumpula, Nongoma. Residents have evacuated their homes due to safety concerns as the elephants roam the area. This appeal follows the recent culling of nine elephants near Vryheid, which caused a public outcry. Ezemvelo is closely monitoring the situation and seeks humane ways to protect both the community and the elephants. 

# Boxing: British boxer Tyson Fury is confident of a knockout victory against Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in their upcoming rematch on 31 December in Saudi Arabia. After losing to Usyk by split decision in May, Fury aims to reclaim the WBC title. Speaking at a press conference, he acknowledged Usyk’s fair win, but promised to be a little more focused:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-68-cents and the euro at 19-rand-13-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-92-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-894-dollars-28-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-726-dollars-71-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-48-cents a barrel.

# And finally, a famous US grizzly bear beloved for decades by tourists, biologists and professional wildlife photographers in Grand Teton National Park is dead after being struck by a vehicle in western Wyoming. Grizzly Number 399 died on a highway in Snake River Canyon south of Jackson. At least 28 years old, she was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Every spring wildlife enthusiasts awaited her emergence from her den to see how many cubs she had birthed. Yellowstone’s grizzlies are a conservation success story, with surging numbers since the 1970s. 

Stay tuned for more news………….