News 11:00

BULLETIN 1 October 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF condemns minister Steenhuisen’s appointments
# Gun Free South Africa calls for urgent reforms
# And the UK charters a flight for Britons to leave Lebanon

# The EFF says it condemns the flagrant incompetence and corruption of Agriculture minister and DA leader, John Steenhuisen, who, within the first 100 days in office, has failed to appoint qualified staff. The minister has reportedly requested a deviation from the minimum appointment requirements for candidates in his office. Three of the four candidates he wants to hire have matric certificates, but not the minimum tertiary academic qualifications. The EFF says Steenhuisen’s actions demonstrate a complete disregard for governance and a prioritisation of personal loyalty over merit.

# Gun Free South Africa director Adèle Kirsten has raised concerns over the weekend mass shooting of 18 people in Lusikisiki. Statistics show that 34 gun-related fatalities are reported daily, with 24 guns lost. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Kirsten advocates for stricter gun reforms and strengthening the firearm registry, asserting that effective gun control is essential for crime control:

# The GOOD Party says the government of national unity must stop the Western Cape Education Department from axing approximately two-thousand-400 teacher posts next year. The department says it is being short-changed by the national government, receiving only 64-percent of the cost of the nationally negotiated wage agreement, leaving the province to fund the remaining 36-percent. GOOD’s secretary-general, Brett Herron, says the Western Cape is the only province refusing to shift money around to plug the gap:

# The UK government has chartered a commercial flight out of Lebanon for Britons wanting to leave amid escalating violence. There are concerns about rising violence in the Middle East after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut at the weekend. The Israeli military has also launched a limited, localised, and targeted ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, says the flight will leave Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport tomorrow:

# Soccer: Cameroonian Football Federation president Samuel Eto’o has been banned for six months from attending all of the national men’s and women’s matches for offensive behaviour and misconduct. The sanction is connected to the Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup round of 16 match between Cameroon and Brazil last month. The former Barcelona and Chelsea striker was found guilty of offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play and misconduct of players and officials. Fifa has not disclosed the specific details of Eto’o’s actions.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-22-cents and the euro at 19-rand-18-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-3-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-998-dollars-14-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-645-dollars-6-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-47-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….