News 16:00

BULLETIN 29 October 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A tavern bouncer arrested for the Mamelodi East double murder abandons bail
# Mercedez-Benz’s net profit plunges over 30-percent on weak sales in China and US tariffs
# And rugby: George Ford wins the race to be England’s flyhalf against Australia

# A tavern bouncer arrested for the murder of two cousins in Mamelodi East, Pretoria, Tebogo Mnisi, has abandoned bail in the local Magistrate’s Court today. Tshiamo and Baleseng Moramaga’s bodies were found with gunshot wounds to the head. Thirty-eight-year-old Mnisi faces charges of premeditated murder, attempted murder, and possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition. He was arrested at a Pretoria fuel station yesterday. The court noted he has no prior convictions or pending cases. The matter resumes on the 19th of January.

# Former political killings task team member, captain Maxwell Wanda, has told the Madlanga commission that several firearms, including a rifle with loaded magazines, were found at businessman Katiso “KT” Molefe’s Sandhurst home in Johannesburg during his December arrest. Molefe is charged with the murder of engineer Armand Swart, whose company exposed corruption linked to a Transnet tender awarded to his nephew, Lucky Molefe, who remains at large. Wanda says the Hawks briefly interfered, believing the operation was bogus:

# The DA in Gauteng says it demands openness from the National Health Laboratory Service on its apparent commitment to halve its toxicology case backlog by the end of the 2025/26 financial year. The party says this will improve turnaround times for toxicology reports in all NHLS Forensic Chemistry Laboratories. The DA’s Madeleine Hicklin says this is in response to the DA’s questioning of the reported ten-year waiting time for post-mortem results:

Moving abroad:

# German carmaker Mercedes-Benz reported plunging third-quarter profit, hit by weak sales in China as well as US tariffs. Net profit fell 30.8-percent. In July, the firm lowered its outlook for the year after US president Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught and said it expected revenue for 2025 to be significantly below that of last year. Car exports from the European Union are subject to a tariff of 15-percent under an European Union-US deal unveiled late July, down from 27.5-percent, but far higher than the 2.5-percent before Trump launched his trade war in April.

# Rugby: George Ford has won the race to be England’s starting fly-half against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday. Fin Smith is on the bench and Marcus Smith was omitted from coach Steve Borthwick’s matchday-23 entirely. Ford, a veteran of 102 Tests for England, will continue in the number 10 shirt he wore throughout the recent tour of Argentina and the United States. Fin Smith, who was first choice during the Six Nations, missed that tour as he was involved in the British and Irish Lions’ 2-1 series win in Australia.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-12-cents and the euro at 19-rand-92-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-62-cents and Bitcoin trades at 113-thousand-206-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-24-dollars-86-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-82-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….