News 12:00

BULLETIN 4 August 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Electoral Commission launches a WhatsApp voter registration service
# The British prime minister bans rapists and serious child sex offenders from early release
# And soccer: Banyana Banyana know what is at stake against Burkina Faso

# The Electoral Commission has launched a WhatsApp voter registration service to make it easier for eligible citizens to register ahead of the November local government elections. More than 1.7 million people interacted with the IEC during last weekend’s final voter registration weekend. Friday is the deadline for voter registration. IEC CEO Sy Mamabolo says the WhatsApp platform allows users to register or update their details using secure identity verification to protect the integrity of the voters’ roll.

# The Motor Industry Staff Association cautiously welcomes the decrease in the petrol price, but warns the steep hikes in diesel and paraffin prices will punish poor households and increase food costs. Petrol prices will drop by 52-cents per litre at midnight, while diesel prices will rise by up to one-rand-38-cents. Illuminating paraffin prices increase by one-rand-52-cents. MISA’s Phakamile Hlubi-Majola says government must find ways to cushion the impact of the increases:

# The Gauteng Health Department rejects claims that a patient was left permanently blind because of broken equipment at Steve Biko Academic Hospital. The department’s Steve Mabona says the patient’s vision loss was linked to multiple previous surgical procedures, and specialists advised the prognosis for one eye was already poor. While acknowledging procurement delays, he says the department’s clinical records do not support claims that equipment shortages caused the blindness:

Moving abroad:

# UK prime minister Andy Burnham is making changes to the government’s early release scheme for prisioners, which will see rapists, serious child sex offenders and grooming gang offenders excluded. It comes after he paused plans to release six-thousand prisoners early next month to ease overcrowding in jails. The country’s adult mens’ prisons are now at 98-percent capacity. Burnham says his government will also introduce much tougher community measures, including longer periods of supervision and restriction zones for offenders.

# Soccer: Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says they are well aware of what is at stake ahead of tonight’s all-important Women’s Africa Cup of Nations clash against Burkina Faso. South Africa is at the bottom of the table in Group B with just one point after two matches. To progress to the quarterfinals, Banyana Banyana have to beat Burkina Faso and then hope Ivory Coast get the same result against Tanzania. Ellis says they have enough experienced players to get them over the line.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-49-cents and the euro at 18-rand-98-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-15-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-589-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-62-dollars-12-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 88-dollars-97-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….