News 14:00

BULLETIN 11 November 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Matlala’s lawyer withdraws as the case moves to the High Court
# Revo Spies exposes Ekurhuleni Metro Police vetting irregularities by senior officials 
# And motorsport: Ferrari’s chairperson says Hamilton and Leclerc must talk less and focus on their driving

# Controversial tenderpreneur Cat Matlala and his wife Tsakani’s lawyer, Victor Nkhwashu, has withdrawn from their case. The couple and their two co-accused face charges linked to an alleged hit on his former partner, Tebogo Thobejane. The Matlalas now have new legal representation. The accused appeared briefly in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court again before the case was transferred to the High Court in Johannesburg. The case will resume on the 29th of January.

# Retired Ekurhuleni Metro Police deputy chief Revo Spies has revealed that many officers were never properly vetted. Testifying before the Madlanga commission of inquiry, Spies said Parliament’s portfolio committee on Policing raised concerns in 2020 and 2021 about missing criminal checks. He emphasised that despite a national forum agreement on uniform vetting, Ekurhuleni’s 2022 fingerprinting directive was resisted by senior officials, including deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi, halting the process:

# Seventeen South Africans who are stuck in the war-torn region of Donbas in eastern Ukraine were reportedly sent to Russia by Jacob Zuma’s MK Party. Last week, government received distress calls from the men, who had been lured to join mercenary forces under the pretext of lucrative employment contracts. According to News24, the men believed they were going to be trained as MK Party bodyguards. In a letter addressed to Russia’s Defence minister, Andrey Belousov, Zuma begs for the men to be removed from the combat zone.

# Motorsport: Ferrari chairperson John Elkann has expressed disappointment at the team’s performance in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil, saying Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc need to talk less and focus on driving. Collisions for both drivers resulted in them not finishing the race on Sunday. The Scuderia are involved in a tense battle with Mercedes and Red Bull for a second-place finish in the constructors’ championship, with three races remaining. Elkann says the car has undoubtedly improved, but everything else is not up to standard.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-16-cents and the euro at 19-rand-87-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-55-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-180-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-140-dollars-70-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-15-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The DA in the Western Cape says the academic year has reached its critical final stretch, with learners from Grade R to Grade 11 beginning their year-end examinations this week. Grade 12 learners have been writing their National Senior Certificate exams for nearly three weeks and have approximately three weeks left. The DA’s Peter Johnson wishes all learners the very best of luck, saying this period is the culmination of a full year of learning, dedication, and hard work:

Stay tuned for more news………….