News 18:00

BULLETIN 28 October 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Statistics South Africa reports more than 2.1-million foreign travellers to South Africa in September
# Joburg Water says no contamination was found in the water of Bez Valley
# And, at least ten people have been killed after two trains collide in Spain

# Statistics South Africa says nearly 2.9-million travellers passed through the country’s borders and airports in September. These included more than 2.1-million foreign travellers. About one-million foreign visitors arrived in the country, with more than 835-thousand staying overnight and nearly 227-thousand who visited for the day. Most overnight tourists came from Southern African Development Community countries, with more than 659-thousand visitors. A further 161-thousand tourists came from overseas, while more than 13-thousand came from other African countries.

# The Western Cape Education Department says it is looking to the Department of Home Affairs’ successful digital transformation reform programme as a model for improving efficiency and delivering better services. The success of the Home Affairs @ home reforms includes expanding access to over one-thousand service points and processing more than one million Smart ID Card applications. Education MEC Jaco Londt says the WCED, which serves 1.2 million learners, wants to use technology to reduce admin burdens on teachers and schools:

# Johannesburg Water says no pollution was found in samples taken from Bezuidenhout Valley. Samples collected earlier this week from properties met health and safety standards. Spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala says the precautionary water quality alert has been lifted and supply is being restored. Residents can resume normal use including drinking and cooking. She says customers should briefly run taps to flush water that remained in plumbing during isolation:

# At least 10 people have been killed after two high-speed trains collided south of Madrid, with the Spanish media reporting a provisional figure of 46 fatalities. There were 544 passengers travelling on the two trains. The crash happened near Urda, in the Toledo province, earlier this morning. Spain’s rail operator says services on the high-speed line linking Madrid with the south have been suspended. Emergency crews, including firefighters and medical helicopters, are assisting victims. The cause of the collision and the number of injured people have not yet been confirmed.

# Golf: Three former champions will return for the 10th AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Mont Choisy Le Golf from 10 to 13 December. South Africa’s Jayden Schaper, who won last year’s tournament in a playoff, will defend his title against England’s John Parry and Frenchman Antoine Rozner, the 2024 and 2022 champions respectively. All three will be chasing a second victory at the tournament. South Africans Casey Jarvis, Thriston Lawrence, Branden Grace and Dean Burmester are also among the leading names confirmed for the one-point-five-million-dollar event.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-65-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-53-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-14-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-562-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-48-dollars-39-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 116-dollars-32-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….