News 15:00

BULLETIN 26 November 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The suspended deputy chief of Ekurhuleni’s Metro Police Department seeks a postponement of his testimony
# Swimming: Canada’s most decorated Olympian, Penny Oleksiak, is banned for two-years
# And the US Federal Aviation Authority investigates an Amazon drone delivery accident

# Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi has requested a postponement of his Madlanga commission appearance tomorrow. He faces allegations of misconduct, accessory to a Brakpan murder, running a rogue unit involved in extortion, kidnapping, and irregular promotional hires. He is also accused of signing agreements supplying EMPD blue-light resources to controversial businessman Vusimusi ‘Cat’ Matlala. Chief evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson says the next witness will appear on Friday:

Meanwhile, the commission has postponed Hawks Major General Lesetja Senona’s expected testimony to 27 January. He requested additional time to prepare amid allegations linking him to police and justice structure infiltration. Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo accused Senona of assisting Matlala in securing a controversial 360-million-rand police tender. Commission chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga confirmed the agreement between Senona and the evidence leaders:

# The South African Local Government Association is holding its annual national members’ assembly in Durban. Leaders from the country’s 257 municipalities are meeting to address service delivery challenges ahead of next year’s local government elections. SALGA president Bheke Stofile says the focus will be on improving revenue management and enhancing municipal capacity. He stressed to SABC News that stronger financial discipline and efficient service delivery are essential for sustainable local governance:

# Swimming: Canada’s most decorated female Olympian, Penny Oleksiak, has accepted a two-year ban from the International Testing Agency. She failed to properly let anti-doping officials know of her whereabouts on three different occasions, resulting in an anti-doping rule violation. The 25-year-old, who has won seven Olympic medals, will be ineligible to compete until July 14, 2027. Swimming Canada’s CEO, Suzanne Paulins, says athletes are responsible for completing whereabouts and submitting filings on time to comply with anti-doping rules to avoid sanctions.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-13-cents and the euro at 19-rand-83-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-54-cents and Bitcoin trades at 86-thousand-893-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-162-dollars-71-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 61-dollars-79-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Amazon is facing an investigation by the US Federal Aviation Authority after one of its drones hit an overhead internet cable in central Texas. The drone was ascending out of a customer’s yard after dropping off a package when one of its propellers got tangled in the cable. A spokesperson for the FAA confirmed the probe. The incident follows after federal investigators opened a separate investigation in Arizona where two Amazon drones collided with a construction crane in Tolleson, near Phoenix.

Stay tuned for more news………….