News 13:00

BULLETIN 24th October 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cele believes police chiefs were denied the chance to oppose the disbandment of the political killings task team
# Stock markets rally after the meeting between Trump and Xi is confirmed
# And roadrunning: Kenya’s marathon women’s record holder is banned for three years

# Former Police minister Bheki Cele told Parliament’s ad hoc committee national commissioner Fannie Masemola and KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi were not given a chance to raise objections before the disbanding of the political killings task team. Cele dismissed claims that Masemola allowed political interference, describing him as respectful but too soft to push back. He added that Masemola knows his job well but often avoids confrontation, which may weaken his leadership stance:

Meanwhile, ActionSA says there is a disturbing pattern of cooperation between corrupt individuals operating within both the South African Police Service and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department structures. Evidence before the ad hoc committee implicates a JMPD officer in assisting a murder accused businessperson through the misuse of state systems. ActionSA’s Zwelithini Mtshali says the fight against corruption is not only about punishing wrongdoers, it’s about restoring the moral authority of the state.

# The DA says the Kruger National Park’s global brand is the foundation of South Africa’s thriving ecotourism economy. The party says the motion of changing the name raised by the EFF and supported by the MK Party and the ANC in the Mpumalanga provincial legislature was nothing more than an empty, performative gesture. The DA’s Andrew de Blocq says undermining that brand for political gain would directly harm the very citizens these parties claim to represent:

Moving abroad:

# Most stock markets rallied today after the White House confirmed US president Donald Trump would meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, next week, stoking optimism for a cooling of trade tensions. Oil prices surged over the previous two days on news that Washington had imposed sanctions on two Russian crude giants in a bid to bring an end to the Ukrainian war. Equities have endured a volatile period after Trump sparked fresh trade war fears two weeks ago, by threatening to hit Beijing with 100-percent tariffs.

# Roadrunning: Kenya’s women’s marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich has been banned for three years, after admitting to anti-doping rule violations. The 31-year-old was provisionally suspended in July by the Athletics Integrity Unit after a banned diuretic used commonly as a masking agent, was detected in a urine sample collected in March. The AIU says it is now investigating suspicious material recovered from her phone to determine if any other violations have occurred.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-35-cents and the euro at 20-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-11-cents and Bitcoin trades at 111-thousand-321-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-72-dollars-57-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-28-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….