News 14:00

BULLETIN 3 October 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Transnet Freight Rail begins with the split into two divisions amid union concerns
# The DA wants Defence minister Angie Motshekga to account for the SANDF crisis
# And cricket: Jos Buttler returns and there are three uncapped players in England’s squad for the West Indies tour

# Transnet Freight Rail has officially begun the separation process into an infrastructure manager and an operations company. The unbundling is one of the conditions tied to the 47-billion-rand guarantee from the National Treasury. However, the United National Transport Union argues that the split is premature, raising concerns about job security, infrastructure readiness, and costs associated with a CEO and setting up a separate board. Transnet says it will continue to engage with labour and employees as the implementation progress continues.

# The DA has expressed concern at minister of Defence and Military Veterans Angie Motshekga’s failure to provide a report on the state of the South African National Defence Force. The report was due to the National Council of Provinces on the 17th of last month. The DA’s Nicholas Gotsell, says the minister’s failure to provide the report is a clear indication that the SANDF is in a crisis:

# Three suspects wanted for a string of extortion and murder cases in the eThekwini District were shot and killed in two separate incidents in KwaZulu-Natal. In the first incident, police followed up information regarding the whereabouts of a suspect who was wanted for four cases of extortion and four of murder. Police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda says when they arrived at a house in Inanda, the suspect fired shots at them and he was then fatally shot:

# The government of the Dominican Republic plans to deport up to ten-thousand undocumented migrants a week to combat uncontrolled migration. Thousands of Haitians have fled across the border into the Dominican Republic. According to the United Nation’s International Organisation for Migration, last year the country forcibly returned more than 200-thousand people to Haiti. President Luis Abinader says deportations will follow strict protocols that guarantee respect for human rights.

# Cricket: England’s limited overs captain, Jos Buttler, has been named in the squad for the tour of the West Indies later this month. He missed England’s T20 and ODI series against Australia last month, as he continued to recover from a calf injury. Also in the 14-man squad is the uncapped trio of Jafer Chohan, South African-born John Turner and Dan Mousley. England will play the Windies in three ODIs and five T20s.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-44-cents and the euro at 19-rand-25-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-88-cents and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-727-dollars-4-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-645-dollars-49-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-27-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….