News 13:00

BULLETIN 7 December 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# NATJOINTS and the Madlanga Commission agree to strengthen safety
# Minister Schreiber withdraws the 90-day visa exemption for Palestinian travellers
# And in soccer: Orlando Pirates lift the Carling Cup

# South Africa’s  National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure  and the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry have agreed that security needs to enhanced at the commission’s hearings in Pretoria. This follows the murder of Marius van der Merwe, known as Witness D in Brakpan, Ekurhuleni on Friday night. The commission spokesperson, Jeremy Michaels says while extensive measures have been put in place to secure witnesses and officials since the start of the Commission, the meeting identified a need to heighten these measures by roping in the NATJOINTS and all other relevant role players.

Meanwhile Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi announced new legislation aimed at strengthening the protection of whistle-blowers. She says the Protection Disclosure Bill draft will be tabled in Parliament soon:

# Home Affairs minister, Leon Schreiber has withdrawn South Africa’s 90-day visa exemption for Palestinian ordinary passport holders. This after a group of 153 Palestinians arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni last month on a chartered flight from Kenya. Schreiber says investigations revealed systematic abuse of the exemption, with travel designed not for the purposes of tourism or short stays as intended, but to relocate Palestinians from Gaza:

# KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, has deployed disaster management teams to areas affected by severe weather conditions across the province. The department’s spokesperson, Senzelwe Mzila says last night heavy rains caused localised flooding in the Sibongile Township near Dundee. He says tragically, a 35-year-old woman was swept away during the incident:

# The GOOD Party in the Western Cape says the George Municipality does not permit competition between public transport services. The party says in practice, this means that the Go George bus service is shielded from competition with other providers such as Bolt and Uber. The GOOD Party’s Rosa Louw says this approach is inconsistent with competition legislation, which does not permit municipalities to block or restrict lawful competing services:

# And soccer: Orlando Pirates clinched the Carling Knockout Cup in dramatic fashion at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium yesterday, edging Marumo Gallants 1-0 after extra time to secure their second trophy of the season. The decisive moment arrived just before the end of the first half of extra time, when Relebohile Mofokeng broke the deadlock in a match that had remained goalless through 90 tense minutes. The victory adds to Pirates’ MTN8 victory from September.

Stay tuned for more news………….