News 15:00

BULLETIN 13 October 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# POPCRU says the time has come for the alliance partners to engage through honest dialogue
# The EU’s top diplomat says Russia is gambling with war
# And tennis: The Paris Masters will debut at a new indoor arena this year

# The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union’s central executive committee says time has come for the alliance partners, the ANC, the South African Communist Party, COSATU, and SANCO to engage through honest dialogue. The SACP announced it will be contesting the 2026 local government elections independently. POPCRU spokesperson Richard Mamabolo says the alliance was born out of necessity as a political home for the working class and a strategic centre for the transformation of South African society:

# My Vote Counts has applied for leave to appeal a ruling by the Western Cape High Court that dismissed its challenge to the constitutionality of the Political Funding Act. The organisation has filed applications with the Constitutional Court and the High Court to continue its legal fight. The advocacy group’s Joel Bregman urges president Cyril Ramaphosa to provide by 20 October, reasons and documentation for raising donation limits to 200-thousand-rand minimum and 30-million-rand maximum:

# SANParks has reported an eleven-percent revenue increase from 3.67-billion-rand to 4.1-billion-rand for the 2024/25 financial year. This marks the first time is surpasses four-billion-rand. CEO Hapiloe Sello says 75-percent of revenue came from commercial activities, reflecting effective business strategies. SANParks also earned an unqualified audit and achieved 86-percent of its performance targets. Sello says this is a result of the organisation’s financial stability, operational excellence, and ongoing commitment to conservation and community empowerment.

Moving abroad:

# The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, says that Russia was gambling with war after a spate of Russian drones and military jets crossing into the bloc’s airspace. NATO has boosted its defences along its eastern borders as it accused Moscow of testing the alliance’s air defences with drone incursions into several countries and by flying military jets in Estonian airspace. Kallas is in Kyiv for talks on military and financial support for Ukraine, and especially its energy infrastructure, as Russia has resumed attacks on power plants ahead of winter.

# Tennis: The Paris Masters will debut in its new La Defense Arena home this month, with the showpiece court in the venue set to be trumped by only the US Open’s Arthur Ashe Stadium on the current global circuit. Its new base, an indoor arena opened in 2017 in the western suburbs of Paris, is also the home of French Top 14 rugby club Racing 92. The centre court has a capacity of around 17-thousand-500 people. The event will run from 27 October to 2 November.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-35-cents and the euro at 20-rand-10-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-14-cents and Bitcoin trades at 114-thousand-245-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-76-dollars-94-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-48-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….