News 17:00

BULLETIN 1 October 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka hails two years of clean audits performance
# Government advances the implementation of its renewable energy masterplan
# And: Israel launches a probe after the attempted Flydubai attack

# Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka has praised her office’s performance, saying it has achieved a clean audit for the second consecutive year. Gcaleka says the institution’s case finalisation turnaround has improved to 89-percent, while matters taken on review through the courts have declined by 87-percent. She says implementation of remedial action has risen to 67-percent. Gcaleka says the institution has also achieved 100-percent of its key performance targets for the second financial year:

# Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, Alexandra Abrahams has met with stakeholders to review progress on the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan. The committee includes government, industry, labour and renewable energy sector representatives. Abrahams says the energy transition must prioritise affordability and accessibility for consumers, while supporting the economy. She says implementation will also focus on expanding local manufacturing and securing reliable electricity supply in South Africa:

# The Western Cape Department of Infrastructure has signed a five-year agreement with the Geneva-based Artificial Intelligence for Developing Countries Forum to promote the responsible use of artificial intelligence in infrastructure. Infrastructure MEC Tertuis Simmers says AI will be explored for infrastructure planning, project monitoring, decision-making and investment readiness. The MEC says the partnership will also focus on accountable, human-centred AI and building local capacity:

# Israel says it will get to the root of an incident in which a Flydubai co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The wounded captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and reserve crew to subdue the attacker before the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it is too early to determine whether Iran was involved. The United Arab Emirates has launched an investigation into the incident, including whether it involved terrorism.

# Soccer: Cristiano Ronaldo has left Portugal’s camp ahead of tonight’s UEFA Nations League game against Denmark, vowing he will explain the reasons for his decision in due time. The 41-year-old was an unused substitute in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Norway. This sparked rumours about a possible feud with coach Jorge Jesus, who also stated he was not planning to start Ronaldo for tonight’s game in Copenhagen. In a post on social media, Ronaldo wished his teammates good luck in their forthcoming games.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-56-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-69-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-540-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-175-dollars-93-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 103-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….