News 13:00

BULLETIN 1 October 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Home Affairs plans a campaign to document undocumented South Africans by 2029
# The European Union commends Namibia’s swift response to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak
# And the American death row inmate Christa Pike survives execution despite two doses of a lethal injection

# Home Affairs is preparing a national campaign to document every undocumented South African citizen during the 2028/29 financial year. At the launch of the Quantum Leap modernisation project at Constitutional Hill, minister Leon Schreiber said with the digital reforms, the department will review late birth registrations and documentation processes and deploy mobile biometric technology. He says the goal is to document every citizen by the end of 2029:

# Social security agency SASSA has dismissed claims any money entering a beneficiary’s bank account automatically results in the cancellation of a social grant. Spokesperson Andile Tshona says grant eligibility is assessed against statutory requirements and, where applicable, prescribed means-test thresholds. He adds a review also does not automatically mean a grant will be suspended or cancelled.

# The European Union’s Health and Food Safety Services have commended the Namibian government for its swift, transparent and professional response to the recent foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. Last week, the government introduced control measures, including the suspension of imports and exports of cloven-hoofed animals. EU ambassador to Namibia, Ana Beatriz Martins, says the outbreak has raised concerns about the country’s access to key international beef markets:

# Rugby: Flanker Sam Underhill will miss England’s Nations Championship Tests in November through injury. He ruptured his biceps playing for Bath against Harlequins and has to undergo an operation which could keep him out for up to four months. Bath’s head of rugby, Johan van Graan, says he immediately realised Underhill’s injury was serious. The 30-year-old played 50 Tests for England since making his debut in 2017, scoring 25 points. England plays Australia, Japan and New Zealand in November.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-55-cents and the euro at 18-rand-69-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-89-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-710-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-160-dollars-12-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 104-dollars-11-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike is in hospital after officials were unable to carry out her execution in Nashville yesterday evening. The 50-year-old was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She would have been the first woman executed in Tennessee in over 200 years. WPLN reporter Catherine Sweeney, who witnessed the botched execution, says Pike was given two doses of a lethal drug, but was still loudly snoring:

Stay tuned for more news………….