News 14:00

BULLETIN 28 November 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla resigns as MP amid the Russian recruitment complaint
# Minister Cachalia highlights the urgent fight against organised crime
# And motorsport: Verstappen seeks a Qatar hat-trick but Norris is still the title favourite

# MK Party leader and former president Jacob Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, has resigned voluntarily as a Member of Parliament. Her resignation follows a criminal complaint by the DA’s Chris Hattingh at Cape Town police station, as well as her sister, Nkosazana Zuma-Mncube, alleging she recruited 17 South Africans to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine. The MK Party denies involvement. The party also plans to meet affected families to assist in repatriating the South Africans still trapped in the active conflict zone.

Meanwhile, the ANC Youth League has expressed concern over the ongoing allegations against the MK Party and its leadership relating to these claims. Zuma-Sambudla and others allegedly duped17 South African men into joining the notorious Russian mercenary group Wagner. They are reportedly stuck in Ukraine’s war-torn Donbas region. The league says the allegations paint a picture of a party that operates with reckless disregard for South African law and ethical governance.

# Acting Police minister Firoz Cachalia says combating organised crimes, including gang violence and state capture, requires uncompromising policing, effective investigation, and prosecution. Addressing the release of first and second-quarter crime statistics in Johannesburg, Cachalia stressed organised crime threatens public safety, the economy, and national security, with gangs fuelling violence, corruption, and kidnappings:

# Eskom has welcomed the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s decision to award a market operator licence to the National Transmission Company of South Africa. This is a precursor to the launch of the South African Wholesale Electricity Market next year, alongside new Grid Capacity Allocation Rules to facilitate fair and non-discriminatory access to the network. Eskom’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says this is an important milestone in the country’s energy reform agenda:

# Motorsport: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is seeking a hat-trick of victories at the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend as this year’s Formula One world championship reaches boiling point in the Arabian Gulf. But even with luck on his side he is unlikely to overhaul a 24-point deficit that separates him from McLaren’s Lando Norris as they approach the final two events of the season. Norris arrives in Qatar as favourite to lift his first title and clinch McLaren’s first team-and-driver double since Mika Hakkinen’s success in 1998.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-13-cents and the euro at 19-rand-82-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-64-cents and Bitcoin trades at 91-thousand-558-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-163-dollars-27-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-64-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….