News 16:00

BULLETIN 22 October 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Parliament questions Senzo Mchunu over the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s staff shortages and spending priorities
# Blood Lions raises alarm after a lion escaped during transportation in North West
# And US vice president Vance cautions there are challenges in disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza

# Suspended Police minister Senzo Mchunu has faced tough questions in Parliament over the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s staff shortfall of two-thousand-711 personnel. Lawmakers criticised the allocation of 100-million-rand to a temporary unit instead of funding the critical division. Mchunu acknowledged long-standing concerns raised by the directorate’s leadership about shortages in staff, equipment, and resources. He admitted the spending may be misaligned and raised concerns about SAPS’s resource distribution and value:

# The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development says it has been affected by a global Windows 11 system error following a recent Microsoft patch update. It says this is a widespread issue that has impacted numerous organisations worldwide and has resulted in system failures and operational disruptions across several environments. Spokesperson Samuel Modipane says while the matter is external to the department, it is working closely with Microsoft engineers to restore affected devices and services as a matter of urgency:

# Animal welfare organisation Blood Lions has expressed deep concern after another lion escaped while being transported by road. The animal was being transported from the Free State to Nietverdiend in Ramotshere Moiloa Municipality. Authorities in North West have confirmed that a lion has been safely captured. The group’s Stephanie Klarmann says the incident exposes ongoing risks within South Africa’s commercial captive lion industry, including poor welfare standards and possible permit violations:

Moving abroad:

# US vice president JD Vance cautioned there were challenges ahead both in terms of disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza as part of a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant movement. Vance is in Israel to shore up support for the ceasefire and post-war reconstruction plans brokered by his president, Donald Trump. During a news conference in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel where a US-led mission is monitoring the Gaza ceasefire, Vance expressed great optimism that the truce would hold.

# Soccer: Liverpool’s media team thrilled South African fans with a Cape Town-inspired illustration showing players crammed into a Toyota Quantum heading to Anfield. The post features captain Virgil van Dijk, striker Hugo Ekitike, defensive midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, and newly signed striker Alexander Isak. The post included Table Mountain and a local number plate for local flair. Shared on Instagram, it quickly went viral, sparking laughter and excitement. Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis joined in the excitement, commenting, ‘Let’s go Cape Town!’

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-46-cents and the euro at 20-rand-22-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 107-thousand-994-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-31-dollars-97-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-23-cents a barrel

Stay tuned for more news………….