News 14:00

BULLETIN 3 November 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A party candidate is arrested over an attempt to steal election material
# AfriForum calls on Ramaphosa to condemn the farm attack on a North West farmer
# And the first measles death in 30 years is recorded in New York State

# The Electoral Commission has confirmed the arrest of a political party’s candidate in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape for allegedly attempting to steal election material. The suspect allegedly impersonated an IEC official to collect the materials from a police station. This was exposed when the actual presiding official denied authorising the collection. Police intercepted the suspect, seized the materials and opened a criminal case. The IEC also dismissed a presiding official for allegedly transporting party members in an IEC vehicle while distributing T-shirts, in breach of election protocols.

Meanwhile, Western Cape Education MEC Jaco Londt reminds the public public schools will be closed tomorrow due to the elections. He says there will be no National Senior Certificate exams today, tomorrow and Thursday to ensure learner safety and allow schools to be used as voting stations. Londt says the department will share any further updates and the NSC timetable will resume as scheduled after the elections.:

# AfriForum calls on president Cyril Ramaphosa to condemn the farm attack on North West farmer Donovan Marx, who was severely injured on his farm last week. Five suspects, aged between 26 and 56, have been arrested in connection with the attack and are making their first court appearance today. AfriForum’s CEO Kallie Kriel says Ramaphosa’s silence aligns with his refusal to condemn the Kill the Boer chant and declare farm murders a priority crime:

Moving abroad:

# A child has died from measles in New York State, the first such death in over 30 years. The death occured in Lewis County in the rural north of the state amid an ongoing outbreak. US health officials have not disclosed the child’s age or vaccination status. New York had recorded 178 measles cases so far this year. The US has reported more than four-thousand-800 cases this year, the highest number since 1991. Health officials say vaccination remains the best protection.

# Rugby: England’s head coach, Steve Borthwick, has named a 36-player squad for the Nations Championship, with Alex Mitchell missing out due to injury. Scrumhalves Ben Spencer and Harry Randall are in the squad in his absence. Hooker Theo Dan comes in for injured Kepu Tuipulotu. Centre Seb Atkinson and winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso are also included after successfully negotiating injury comebacks with their clubs this past weekend. England will face Australia on Sunday, followed by matches against Japan and New Zealand.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-64-cents and the euro at 18-rand-61-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-31-cents and Bitcoin trades at 76-thousand-890-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-903-dollars-83-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 109-dollars-80-sents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….