News 18:00

BULLETIN 29 September 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Crime Intelligence head unmasks the rise of the powerful ‘Big Five’ drug cartel in South Africa
# ActionSA removes underperforming councillors in Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni
# And tennis: Carlos Alcaraz fights back to emulate Rafael Nadal and reach the season’s tenth final

# Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo has told the Madlanga commission the criminal justice system has been infiltrated by a powerful drug cartel known as the Big Five. According to Khumalo, the cartel, based in Gauteng with networks in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, is linked to senior politicians and insiders in law enforcement. He revealed that private security companies are being used as fronts to gain legal access to firearms:

Khumalo also says the division faced serious turmoil during Richard Mdluli’s tenure as head. He says between 2011 and 2012, Crime Intelligence experienced misuse of resources and flawed operational methods. Khumalo says attempts by acting management to correct these issues were undermined, and several acting heads, including himself, were removed:

# ActionSA’s leader, Herman Mashaba, has fired at least five Johannesburg councillors as part of a Gauteng-wide purge that also impacts Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. News24 reports the dismissals follow poor performance, with some councillors failing to meet more than ten-percent of their key performance targets. Mashaba says the decision, initially set for May, was postponed, but it was unfair that diligent members went unpaid while underperforming councillors continued to receive their salaries.

# The South African National Taxi Council in Limpopo says it is cooperating with authorities and will review safety measures to prevent future tragedies. This comes after 12 people died in a collision involving a minibus taxi and two trucks on the R81 near Ga-Sekgopo, Mooketsi, yesterday. SANTACO’s Sipho Maloma says their thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved, the survivors, and all affected:

# Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz battled back to beat Norwegian Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Tokyo and reach his tenth final of a spectacular season, emulating fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal. The world number one and US Open champion will face his Laver Cup conqueror, American Taylor Fritz, in tomorrow’s final of the Japanese Open. No man has reached ten finals in a season since the legendary Nadal in 2017.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-28-cents and the euro at 20-rand-27-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-20-cents and Bitcoin trades at 113-thousand-897-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-821-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-21-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….