News 11:00

BULLETIN 24 October 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile will convene the government of national unity’s second clearing house meeting
# The DA calls for urgent and decisive action in tackling extortion
# And rugby: Aphelele Fassi is firmly focused on the Sharks

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile will today convene the second meeting of the government of national unity’s clearing house mechanism. This platform, created by president Cyril Ramaphosa, is designed to address policy disagreements among the ten political parties in the government. Key topics for discussion will include the terms of reference for the clearing house mechanism, updates on the G20 Summit preparations, the BELA Act, and challenges faced by coalition governments at provincial and local levels. 

# The DA welcomes the preliminary report on extortion which was tabled before Parliament’s portfolio committee on Police, highlighting the impact that extortion rackets are having in the country. In July last year, minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Sihle Zikalala, revealed that the construction mafias are costing the economy an estimated 68-billion-rand. The DA’s Lisa Schickerling says extortion rackets are not only crippling the construction industry, but also severely damaging small, medium, and micro enterprises:

# Western Cape Anti-Gang Unit detectives have launched a manhunt for gunmen who shot and killed five people in Atlantis, Cape Town, yesterday evening. Police spokesperson, Novela Potelwa, says the victims were in three vehicles on their way home from Silverstroom beach when the shooting occurred along Old Mamre and Silverstream roads. She says as the investigation unfolds, it is expected that the motive for the shooting incident will be determined:

# Gauteng police have confirmed that a man has been arrested in connection with the murder of six-year-old Amantle Samane from Orlando, Soweto. Her body was discovered in a shack not far from her home. She was allegedly raped before being killed. The police worked with Interpol as well as the border management authority in hunting down the suspect, who is believed to be a Mozambican.

# Rugby: Springbok fullback Aphelele Fassi says his immediate priority is helping the Sharks beat Munster in their fifth United Rugby Championship game of the season at Kings Park on Saturday. He is one of three accomplished fullbacks in Bok coach Rassie Erasmus’ 35-man squad for the outgoing tour in November, together with Damian Willemse who returns from injury, and veteran Willie le Roux. Fassi says he wants to leave the Sharks on a high note before joining the Bok squad on Sunday:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-71-cents and the euro at 19-rand-10-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-95-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-138-dollars-6-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-735-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-88-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….