News 08:00

BULLETIN 5 Augustus 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile is recovering well after undergoing minor surgery
# The ministry of Higher Education pledges action on delayed student payments
# And soccer: Banyana Banyana is through to the WAFCON quarterfinals

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says deputy president Paul Mashatile is recovering well and will be back at work soon. This comes after he underwent a minor surgical procedure. Ramaphosa, who visited Mashatile yesterday, says he is in high spirits and is pleased with his recovery. No further details about the procedure were provided. The Presidency thanked the public for their concern and stated that Ramaphosa wished Mashatile a speedy and full recovery.

# Higher Education and Training deputy minister Yusuf Cassim says students must receive the financial support they are promised to help them complete their studies. Speaking during a visit to the Transport Education and Training Authority in Randburg, Cassim said complaints about delays in bursary payments and apprenticeship stipends prompted the visit. He added the government is working to identify the problems and ensure students receive the support they need on time:

# Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts inquiry into the Road Accident Fund has found that the fund’s former management deliberately bypassed the board when approving extensive security measures for former CEO Collins Letsoalo. RAF spent at least 27-million-rand on Letsoalo’s security between 2023 and 2025. This is despite a police security assessment revealing no threat against Letsoalo that warranted additional security. Parliamentary legal advisor Fatima Ebrahim says bodyguards for the former RAF CEO were increased from two to nine:

# The World Health Organisation says efforts are advancing towards enhanced treatment and the world’s first vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. Three-thousand-748 cases, including one-thousand-657 deaths, have been recorded in the largest-ever Ebola outbreak on record in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Clinical trials of medicine and treatment options are rolling out in the Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak. WHO says trials for the first-ever Bundibugyo strain-specific candidate vaccine began in the UK last month, with a second starting in Canada this week.

# Soccer: Banyana Banyana are through to the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals after beating Burkina Faso 1-0 in Casablanca. Striker Thembi Kgatlana scored the all-important winning goal in the 21st minute as South Africa finished second in Group B behind Ivory Coast, who defeated Tanzania 2-1 in the other match. Desiree Ellis’ side will face hosts Morocco in the quarterfinals in Rabat on Saturday. Player of the match Kgatlana says she is proud of how the team played:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-34-cents and the euro at 18-rand-86-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-99-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-36-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-131-dollars-73-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-71-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….