News 09:00

BULLETIN 17 October 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Mantashe says the gas and petroleum sector needs to be protected
# Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, is indicted
# And cricket: Temba Bavuma is included in the South Africa A squad for the India tour

# Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, says the solution for affordable fuel prices is the protection of the gas and petroleum sector. He addressed members of Parliament during the National Council of Provinces question-and-answer session with select ministers in the economic cluster on Thursday. Mantashe says domestic fuel prices are influenced by factors such as the price of crude oil, refined petrol product prices, and the rand/US dollar exchange:

# Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi convened the inaugural meeting of the advisory panel for the selection of the National Director of Public Prosecutions yesterday. Appointed by president Cyril Ramaphosa, the panel is tasked with identifying and interviewing individuals worthy of consideration for the position. Advocate Shamila Batohi’s term of office ends in January next year. The ministry’s spokesperson, Terrence Manase, says the meeting marked a significant step towards ensuring capable, ethical, and independent leadership for the National Prosecuting Authority:

# The City Power board says an independent review has found no evidence of factual substantiation of wrongdoing by the entity’s executives, including CEO, Tshifularo Mashava. Allegations published in the media, in particular several News24 articles, related to issues of governance, procurement, recruitment, and infrastructure management. City Power’s spokesperson, Isaac Mangena, says the board is satisfied that the investigation was thorough and independent, and has reaffirmed its confidence in the leadership of Mashava and the executive team:

# US president Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, has been criminally indicted by the Justice Department. According to a 26-page indictment, the 76-year-old faces eight counts of transmitting national defence information and ten counts of retaining national defence information. Prosecutors accuse him of illegally transmitting top secret information about the US national defence using his personal email and other messaging apps. Bolton says he is a victim of Trump’s weaponisation of the Justice Department.

# Cricket: Proteas captain Temba Bavuma is set to return to action from a calf injury later this month. He has been included in the South Africa A squad for the four-day series against India, and will be available for the second of two first-class matches to be played in Bengaluru. South Africa A will also play three ODI matches against India A in Rajkot in November. Cricket South Africa says Bavuma’s inclusion is part of his return-to-play programme ahead of the Proteas’ series against India between November and December.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-35-cents and the euro at 20-rand-32-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-34-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-166-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-368-dollars-10-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 60-dollars-88-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….