News 12:00

BULLETIN 14 October 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Zuma and Thales will face trial in 2027 after failing to appeal their court ruling
# Basic Education welcomes a smooth start to the matric exams
# And soccer: Banyana Banyana is through to the third round of the 2028 LA Olympic qualifiers

# The National Prosecuting Authority says the trial in the long-running arms deal corruption case of former president Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales will start on the first of February next year. This comes after they failed to file applications for leave to appeal the KwaZulu-Natal High Court’s ruling that the trial can proceed. The NPA says no further applications for leave to appeal are outstanding. Zuma and Thales pleaded not guilty to racketeering, fraud, corruption and money laundering in 2021.

# A criminal fraud complaint of more than 22-million-rand has been registered against ticket supplier Adriaan Pieterse after customers were allegedly left without tickets for several major sporting events. The complaint was lodged by hospitality agency Leisure Connexion and its owner, Adelbert Retief. News24 reports the alleged losses include about eleven-million-rand linked to UEFA Champions League tickets, with around 7.88-million-rand tied to the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series. Pieterse has denied any wrongdoing, saying tickets were supplied, refunds were made where necessary and he is actually owed money.

# The Department of Basic Education welcomes a positive start to the National Senior Certificate examinations. The exams started yesterday, with over 800-thousand full-time and part-time candidates writing. Spokesperson Terence Khala says the first papers were written without major incidents. He thanked teachers, parents and officials for ensuring a smooth start and wished the Class of 2026 success:

Moving abroad:

# UK prime minister Andy Burnham is set to host Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at Downing Street today. The meeting comes amidst US president Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel. Burnham is expected to use the visit to announce an acceleration of military support for Kyiv and to pledge further rounds of sanctions aimed at Moscow. He will also reaffirm plans to fully implement a maritime services ban on Russian liquefied natural gas exports. Burnham says the UK’s support for Ukraine is rock solid.

# Soccer: Banyana Banyana went through to the third round of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games qualifiers after a commanding 7-0 aggregate victory over Madagascar in Bloemfontein. South Africa won the second leg 3-0 with goals from Gabriela Moodaly-Salgado and a brace from substitute Ronnel Donnelly. The 2022 African champions will now face Angola in the third round early next year. Banyana coach Desiree Ellis is happy with the overall performance:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-47-cents and the euro at 18-rand-46-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-741-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-151-dollars-9-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 107-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….