News 16:00

BULLETIN 13 October 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A court hears Sibiya threatened Mr M in a sexual offence case
# Standard Bank backs a nine-billion-rand Gautrain upgrade
# And cricket: Australia clinches the first Test against South Africa by 214 runs

# The state has submitted an affidavit alleging former deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya threatened a man identified as Mr M, who accused him of sexually assaulting his teenage daugther. The affidavit read in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Gauteng claims Sibiya called Mr M angrily while a police case was being opened after the father confronted Sibiya over the 16-year-old girl’s claims:

# Standard Bank has secured the full debt financing for a nine-billion-rand programme to modernise the Gautrain over the next 15 years. The investment will be managed by Sihamba Sonke Mobility, which took over the system’s operations and maintenance last month. Plans include refurbishing 24 trains, buying eight new ones, upgrading stations and signalling systems, and modernising ticketing. The programme also includes renewable energy initiatives and replacing feeder buses. The upgrades aim to extend Gautrain’s operating life by providing more reliable transport.

# Statistics South Africa announced that mining production fell by 12.7-percent in August. The decline was mainly driven by lower production of platinum group metals, coal and iron ore. Mineral sales also dropped by 15.1-percent compared with the same month last year, with gold sales falling by nearly 49-percent. Stats SA’s Juan-Pierre Terblanche says mining production declined by 5.2-percent over the three months to August, while mineral sales fell by 13.3-percent over the same period:

# A six-year-old girl is in critical condition after being stabbed multiple times inside a classroom at a special needs school in Umhlali on KwaZulu-Natal’s North Coast this morning. She was taken to a specialist facility under advanced life support care. Police say a teenage suspect, reportedly a former learner, forced his way onto the church-based school, locked a classroom and attacked the girl in front of classmates. Another teacher forced the door open. The suspect was apprehended and taken to police.

# Cricket: Opener Aiden Markram’s lone defense was in vain as Australia clinched the first Test against the Proteas in Durban by 214 runs. South Africa resumed on 102 for four on the final day, chasing a virtually impossible 422. Markram was finally dismissed for 75 and the Proteas were bowled out for 206. Australia yesterday declared its second innings on 314 for six after a first-innings lead of 106 runs. The penultimate Test starts in Gqeberha on Sunday, and the final one in Cape Town on the 27th.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-49-cents and the euro at 18-rand-45-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-349-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-187-dollars-20-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 107-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….