News 13:00

BULLETIN 15 October 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South African technology is found in Russian attack drones
# Cricket: Pakistan beats the Proteas by 93 runs in the first Test in Lahore
# And 38-percent of South Africans are in unsustainable debt territory

# The DA says it has noted with profound concern Bloomberg’s reports that laser range-finding equipment manufactured by South African firm LightWare Opto-electronics has been recovered from Russian suicide drones used in the war against Ukraine. The party says the use of South African-made tech in Russian war drones is deeply alarming. The DA’s Chris Hattingh says the party will pursue the publishing of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee findings on the LightWare matter in a form fit for public and parliamentary scrutiny.

# Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, and China’s General Administration of Customs, Sun Meijun, have signed a historic stone fruit trade protocol in Shanghai, China. With US tariffs squeezing exporters, this agreement offers huge potential, tapping into China’s strong market. The department’s spokesperson, Joylene van Wyk, says the opening of the Chinese market could unlock approximately 400-million-rand for the country over the next five years, a figure which is projected to double over the next ten years:

# The Western Cape Education Department says 77-thousand-442 candidates will write the National Senior Certificate exams in the province this year. Of these, 67-thousand-606 are full-time matric candidates, while nine-thousand-836 are part-time or repeat candidates. The exams begin on Tuesday, with 12-thousand-736 candidates writing the Computer Applications Technology Practical exam. MEC David Maynier says in total, 112 papers will be written by the time the exams end on 26 November:

# Cricket: Pakistan beat South Africa by 93 runs in the first of two Tests in Lahore. The home team set the visitors a winning target of 277 and the Proteas resumed their second innings on 51 for two today after captain Aiden Markram and night owl Wiaan Mulder were dismissed yesterday. This morning, Ryan Rickelton’s innings ended on 45 and Dewald Brevis’ on 54, while the other batters didn’t make an impact. South Africa was bowled out for just 183. The second Test starts in Rawalpindi on Monday.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-31-cents and the euro at 20-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-10-cents and Bitcoin trades at 112-thousand-510-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-190-dollars-89-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-5-cents a barrel.

# And finally: South Africans are finding innovative ways to stretch their budgets, explore additional income streams, and make the most of the resources at their disposal. This is according to the inaugural Money & Me survey by JustMoney.co.za, which looked into six categories: earning, borrowing, spending, saving, protecting, and trusting. The survey drew five-thousand-500 online responses. JustMoney’s Sarah Nicholson says 61-percent of respondents find every single month financially difficult, while 38-percent are in unsustainable debt territory:

Stay tuned for more news………….