News 15:00

BULLETIN 28 October 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The South African Zionist Federation condemns the South African government’s genocide charges against Israel
# The EFF rejects the granting of visa free access for Ukrainian diplomats
# And tennis: Jasmine Paolini improves to fourth in the latest WTA world rankings

# The South African Zionist Federation has condemned the South African government’s recent genocide filing against Israel at the International Court of Justice. The federation says Israel’s defensive actions following Hamas’s October 2023 attacks do not fit this definition of genocide, which refers to the deliberate destruction of a group. The federation’s Rolene Marks urges South African political parties to prioritise credible international relationships rather than supporting authoritarian regimes:

# The EFF rejects the announcement by Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber that he has signed an agreement granting visa free access to South Africa for Ukrainian holders of diplomatic, official and service passport. The EFF’s Leigh Ann Mathys says this agreement is nothing else but an attempt to undermine the relationship with Russia so as to please the Euro-Western imperialists and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s deep seated political agenda to expand into the Eastern part of Russia using neighbouring countries such as Ukraine as proxy. 

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a new foundational political education course for party members to strengthen their commitment and ethics. This mandatory course will cover the party’s history, principles, and goals, drawing inspiration from former ANC president Oliver Tambo’s focus on education. Ramaphosa says the course will be rolled out across all branches to ensure all members align with the party’s values and objectives:

# Stellenbosch University’s council will hold an extraordinary meeting on Friday following chancellor Edwin Cameron’s claim that the Wilgenhof residence report was altered before reaching the council. The report initially suggested an alternative to closure, but later recommended shutting the residence. Vice-chancellor Wim de Villiers called the change the correction of a mistake. The university says the closure will proceed, as part of efforts to transform the institution and its residences.

# Tennis: Italian Jasmine Paolini has improved to her best ever position of fourth in the latest world rankings. American Danielle Collins, Russian Anna Kalinskaya and Spaniard Paula Badosa all improved their positions to tenth, eleventh and 12th, respectively. Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus is still number one, followed by Poland’s Iga Swiatek and American Coco Gauff. Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan is fifth, followed by American Jessica Pegula, China’s Qinwen Zheng, American Emma Navarro and Russian Daria Kasatkina.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-64-cents and the euro at 19-rand-8-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-532-dollars-79-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-732-dollars-36-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-91-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….