News 18:00

BULLETIN 10 September 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Police minister plans to address wrongful arrests and financial claims
# The Eastern Cape premier presses charges against the AbaThembu King over extortion allegations
# And, rugby: Rassie Erasmus names a 28-player squad to go to Argentina

# Police minister Senzo Mchunu has announced that a thorough review will be conducted in response to more than four-thousand wrongful arrests and claims exceeding two-billion-rand against the South African Police Service over the past year. Ministry spokesperson Kamogelo Mogotsi says measures will be implemented for accountability and to enhance the efficiency of law enforcement practices: 

# Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane and MEC for Safety and Security Xolile Nqatha have filed charges against AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo following extortion allegations. Mabuyane has rejected accusations claiming he benefited from the alleged extortion activities of Dalinzolo Mareke, who was killed by police last week. Mabuyane told the SABC he has urged for evidence, and a thorough investigation:

# Media Monitoring Africa has expressed concern over public access to parliamentary proceedings. Two years after the fire that damaged parts of the parliamentary complex, the instutition continues to struggle with securing venues. With meetings returning to physical locations after the disruptions of Covid-19, finding suitable venues has become a challenge. William Bird from the monitoring organisation says the delay is potentially affecting transparency and accessibility for the public:

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus recalled Johan Grobbelaar to his 28-man squad to face Argentina in Santiago on 21 September. Grobbelaar will cover hooker along with Malcolm Marx, and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who can also play prop. Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe, and Willie le Roux gets a well-deserved break. Lukhanyo Am and Jesse Kriel are the only two specialist centres, but Canan Moodie provides cover at centre, wing, and fullback. The squad assembles tomorrow and departs for Argentina on Saturday.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-93-cents and the euro at 19-rand-77-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-42-cents and Bitcoin trades at 56-thousand-674-dollars-97-cent. Gold sells at two-thousand-506-dollars-29-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 69-dollars-64-cents a barrel.

# And finally, China’s historic attempt to bring samples from Mars to Earth could launch as soon as 2028, two years earlier than previously stated. The country’s Tianwen-3 mission would carry out two launches to retrieve the Martian samples. The projected launch is more ambitious than a 2030 target announced by space officials earlier this year, though the timeline has fluctuated in recent years. China retrieved the first samples from the far side of the moon in June this year. NASA’s efforts to retrieve Mars samples remains under review.

Stay tuned for more news………….