News 13:00

NEWSFLASH NEWS AGENCY 10 November 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Thandi Modise says there are 6100 derelict and ownerless mines in South Africa
# A diphtheria outbreak kills an inmate at Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town 
# And Rugby: The French coach says the loss to the Springboks in the quarterfinals will scar them for life 

# Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise says there are six thousand-100 derelict and ownerless mines across South Africa. Some of these mines are old and the owners cannot be traced. There are one thousand-170 mine openings nationally and in Gauteng there are 518. Modise was speaking during the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster media briefing on illegal mining interventions in Pretoria. She says the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy will rehabilitate three mines and has closed 40 mine openings per year:

Play sound: ENG ThandiOnOwnerlessMines

# Health minister Joe Phaahla has confirmed an outbreak of diphtheria at the Pollsmoor Correctional Centre in Cape Town, resulting in the death of an inmate. He says a 19-year-old man showed symptoms late last month and was transferred to a local hospital. Eight inmates have since tested positive for this serious infection. Phaahla assures the public measures are in place to bring the outbreak under control. These include thorough contact tracing of inmates, Correctional Services staff, healthcare workers and emergency services personnel.

# Education activist Hendrick Makaneta has called on the Gauteng Department of Education to find a way to resolve the issue of unplaced learners for next year since most of the schools have already reached full capacity. In September, the department revealed that 71-thousand-775 parents had not responded to placement offers for Grades one and eight. Makaneta says the majority of schools have sent letters to parents citing amongst others that they have now reached full capacity and that they should look at the next available options:

Play sound: ENG HendrickonUnplaced

# Rugby: French coach Fabien Galthié says their loss to eventual champions South Africa in the World Cup quarterfinal will scar the team for life. The Springboks edged the host nation 29-28 on their way to the title. France was one of the pre-tournament favourites, together with Ireland, who started as world number one. Galthié spoke to the media for the first time since last month’s loss. He says it was a huge disappointment after four years of hard work in which they achieved a success rate of 80-percent.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-71-cents and the euro at 19-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 36-thousand-498-dollars-8-cents. Gold sells at one-thousand-953-dollars-56-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-59-cents a barrel.

# And finally: An Australian police constable was sentenced to community service for a spat with a colleague over the blockbuster movie Top Gun: Maverick. Dominic Gaynor took out his firearm and pointed it at Morgan Royston, who threatened to reveal the plot of the movie starring Tom Cruise. Royston testified Gaynor threatened to shoot him. Royston has since resigned from the police, saying he completely lost the trust he had in the force. Gaynor pleaded guilty to a charge of carrying a firearm with disregard for the complainant’s safety.

Stay tuned for more news………….