News 17:00

BULLETIN 22 October 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA warns of major challenges at the port of Cape Town ahead of the fruit export season
# Cricket: Minister Gayton McKenzie praises the Protea Women’s team after the T20 World Cup final
# And Ukraine’s population has declined by over 10-million since Russia’s invasion

# The DA says the port of Cape Town is facing major operational challenges, warning these issues could severely impact the upcoming fruit export season. According to the party, the port, managed by Transnet, missed key targets in July and August, including container movements and ship turnaround times. The DA’s Noko Masipa urged Transnet to fast-track private sector involvement to boost efficiency and prevent disruptions that harm the economy:

# The South African Revenue Service is intensifying its crackdown on the illegal diesel blending market in South Africa. Preliminary findings reveal that a suspected multibillion-rand operation reported 5.6-billion-rand in revenue from 2019 to 2023, with evidence of diesel adulteration. This practice, exploiting tax advantages of paraffin, undermines legitimate businesses and poses risks to vehicles. SARS recently raided two major depots in Limpopo and Gauteng. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is also conducting random fuel quality tests to combat this growing issue.

# Freedom Park in Pretoria has denied a request from Afrikaans organisations for a peaceful protest march against the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, planned for 5 November. In response, the Solidarity Movement urged Sport, Arts, and Culture minister Gayton McKenzie to intervene. The protest opposes sections of the new education law, which limits school governing bodies’ control over admissions and language policies. AfriForum has initiated legal action and called for direct talks with the Presidency to ensure the march goes ahead.

Meanwhile, McKenzie has commended the Protea Women’s cricket team for their impressive performance in the T20 World Cup, losing by 32-runs to New Zealand in the final in Dubai. McKenzie highlighted the need for grassroots sports development, especially in schools, and reiterated calls for equal pay in sports to promote gender equality:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-53-cents and the euro at 18-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-105-dollars-87-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-739-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-71-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Ukraine’s population has declined by over 10 million since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. According to the United Nations Population Fund, the ongoing conflict has led to an exodus of approximately 6.7-million refugees and a significant drop in the birth rate to the current one child per woman. This is far below the replacement rate of 2.1 needed to maintain population levels. Factors contributing to this decline include pre-war emigration and war-related casualties, highlighting the severe impact of the conflict on the nation.

Stay tuned for more news………….