News 11:00

BULLETIN 16 October 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The remaining suspects wanted in connection with the Lusikisiki massacre were arrested this morning
# The DA is calling for a Special Investigation Unit probe into the National Skills Fund
# And rugby: The All Blacks lose three forwards due to injuries

# The remaining three wanted suspects believed to be linked to the killing of 18 people in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape last month were arrested this morning. The arrests come less than 24 hours after police requested the assistance of the public in tracing the suspects aged between 20 and 31 years old. National police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, says they won’t divulge where the suspects were found and arrested at this stage, as this may jeopardise investigations:

# The DA is calling on president Cyril Ramaphosa to issue a proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit to probe the National Skills Fund. According to the Nexus Report, 2.5-billion-rand of the entity’s funds went missing and are unaccounted for in two financial years. The DA’s Desiree van der Walt says the report also revealed a host of concerning findings, including a failure to conduct due diligence in project funding, unverified beneficiary bank accounts, and a lack of oversight on funds once disbursed:

# The Western Cape Education Department says over one-thousand teachers faced allegations of transgressions including sexual misconduct and discrimination. The department’s annual report shows that between April last year and March this year, one-thousand-and-59 cases were reported. More than 290 cases resulted in a formal disciplinary hearing, with 13 employees dismissed due to abscondment. The department’s Matthys Cronjé says the transgressions included sexual assault of a learner, dishonesty, and improper, disgraceful, and unacceptable conduct. 

# Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs in Lebanon this morning, the first attack to target the area in several days. This came shortly after the Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings to residents near a building in the Haret Hreik area of Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold. The Israeli Defence Force says its strikes hit strategic weapons belonging to Hezbollah in an underground storage facility. The Lebanese Health ministry says two-thousand-350 people have been killed since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated last month. 

# Rugby: The All Blacks have made three injury-enforced changes to their squad for the season-ending tour, where they will face Japan, England, Ireland, France and Italy. Loose forwards, Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, and Dalton Papali’I, are all injured. Uncapped flanker Peter Lakai and Waikato Chiefs lock Josh Lord have been added to a squad that has been reduced in size from 36 to 35. All Blacks coach, Scott Robertson, says the injuries open up opportunities for some other players:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-60-cents and the euro at 19-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-968-dollars-25-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-676-dollars-53-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-41-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….