News 13:00

BULLETIN 7 October 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The SIU develops a unit to follow up on successfully prosecuted cases referred to the NPA
# March and March’s leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, opens a case over an alleged social media death threat
# And rugby: four countries want to bring the World Cup to South America for the first time

# The Special Investigating Unit has set up a unit to track how many of its referrals to the National Prosecuting Authority end in successful prosecutions. Addressing Parliament’s Justice Committee, SIU head Leonard Lekgetho said they reported more than 700 referrals this year alone. Committee chairperson Xola Nqola says the SIU’s work is in vain if referrals are not acted on. Lekgetho says getting feedback has been difficult:

# March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma opened a case over an alleged social media threat. She reported the matter at Durban Central police station yesterday after a man allegedly posted a message on Facebook calling for her to be raped and killed. The post has since been deleted. The ANC condemns the remarks in the strongest terms, saying there is no justification for incitement to violence, and calling on police to investigate.

# The Competition Commission acted against Premier Group over the planned closure of the RFG fruit-canning facility at Tulbagh in the Western Cape. The commission filed to revoke the Competition Tribunal’s conditional approval of Premier’s merger with RFG Holdings on 6 March. It was implemented on 30 March after the parties said they did not contemplate closing any facilities. Spokesperson Siyabulela Makunga says the closure was contemplated before approval and not disclosed, despite requests. He says the facility employs over 400 workers.

Moving abroad:

# Former Australian bishop Christopher Saunders has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for sexually abusing two young men during his time as a Catholic cleric. The 76-year-old was found guilty of 13 sex offences in August. Saunders was acquitted of alleged offences against a third young man. He will be eligible for parole in February 2031. Western Australian Police’s Andrew Broadley welcomes the verdict:

# Rugby: Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil hope to bring the World Cup to South America for the very first time in 2035 after submitting a joint bid to host the tournament. They plan to use eleven stadiums in ten cities – eight stadiums in Argentina, and one each in the other three countries. Spain and Japan have also expressed interest in hosting the tournament. World Rugby will identify the preferred host in May next year after site visits and feasibility assessments, and make the official announcement in November.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-62-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-1-cent and Bitcoin trades at 84-thousand-934-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-122-dollars-92-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 104-dollars-42-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….