News 14:00

BULLETIN 11 September 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The third accused abandons bail in the DJ Warras murder case
# An Iranian-aligned Houthi advance along the Yemeni coast threatens Saudi oil exports
# And rugby: A huge interest in the Boks-All Blacks Test in Baltimore despite expensive tickets

# The third accused in the murder of musician Warrick “DJ Warras” Stock, Hlengiwe Buthelezi, has abandoned her bail application in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court. The 40-year-old faces charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder following Stock’s fatal shooting in December. The state alleges Buthelezi forwarded Stock’s vehicle details to co-accused and partner, Victor Majola, who is alleged to be the mastermind. Confessed gunman Armando Pacula was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment last month. Buthelezi will join Majola in the dock next Friday for a pre-trial conference.

# Activists and Citizens Forum warns the parliamentary ad hoc committee is just a waste of time and taxpayers’ money. The committee’s mandate is to investigate alleged Infiltration in the criminal justice system and political interfere from the political executive. Forum spokesperson Dennis Bloem says they are not surprised the committee is struggling to produce a report. He says this shows clearly the incompetence of the Members of Parliament on the committee:

# The United National Transport Union says Transnet’s financial results for the year ended 31 March demonstrate that the state-owned entity’s turnaround strategy is beginning to yield positive results. Transnet has returned to profitability, showing a profit after tax of 4.6-billion-rand, compared with a loss of 1.9-billion-rand last year. UNTU acting general secretary, Atenkosi Plaatjie, says while Transnet is on an upward trajectory, it has not fully recovered:

Moving abroad:

# Iranian-aligned Houthis seized control of Yemen’s port city of Mocha and advanced down the Red Sea coast. This comes after US president ​Donald Trump said he expected the Iranian war to end after the midterm elections. Yemeni government military sources say the Houthis had gained further leverage over the southern ‌outlet of the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is one of the world’s most important shipping routes. The world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has relied on the route since the Iranian conflict effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.

# Rugby: There is reportedly huge interest in tomorrow’s Test between the Springboks and the All Blacks in Baltimore in the US, but all 71-thousand tickets will apparently not be sold. The very first match between the old foes on American soil also comes with a hefty price, with the cheapest tickets selling for the equivalent of one-thousand-800-rand for the upper tier, and between three- and seven-thousand for the lower bowl. VIP hospitality seats sell for over 28-thousand-rand. Kick-off is tomorrow night just after 11, South African time.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-14-cents and the euro at 18-rand-71-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-79-cents and Bitcoin trades at 77-thousand-60-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-348-dollars-34-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 105-dollars-33-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….