News 06:00

BULLETIN 11 August 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The GOOD Party criticises Treasury’s appeal against the Social Relief of Distress Grant
# At least 111 people were killed in a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia
# And rugby: SA Rugby pays tribute to the former Bok hooker, Piston van Wyk

# The GOOD Party says National Treasury’s decision to appeal a court ruling ordering government to increase and expand access to the Social Relief of Distress Grant is disgraceful. Treasury estimates that implementing the ruling by the High Court in Pretoria to widen access to the SRD grant could cost government an extra 93.5-billion-rand a year. The GOOD Party’s secretary general, Brett Herron, says the blanket claim of unaffordability by Treasury is a political choice dressed up as fiscal constraint:

# Amnesty International South Africa has questioned the reliability of the statistics presented by government on crimes against women and children. This is after the South African Police Service suspended publication of disaggregated crime data in August last year, including statistics on the murder and assault of women and children. Amnesty International SA executive director, Shenilla Mohamed, says when critical information about the killings and assaults of women is missing from official statistics, it undermines efforts to prevent violence, allocate resources effectively and hold those responsible to account.

# Eskom says it has significantly reduced reliance on diesel-powered generation, despite diesel being deployed selectively during peak demand periods and to maintain required reserves. For the financial year-to-date from 1 April to 6 August this year, diesel expenditure stands at 948.46-million-rand, compared with 5.73-billion-rand over the same period last year. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena says the Open-Cycle Gas Turbine load factor averaged 1.17-percent, down from 9.33-percent in the previous year:

# Acting Police minister Firoz Cachalia says a person of interest has been taken in for questioning in relation to the murder of four people in Reiger Park, Ekurhuleni. Two Anti-Gang Unit officers and two civilians were fatally shot in Reiger Park over the weekend. A Gauteng multidisciplinary team led by the Hawks has recovered two R-5 rifles stolen from the fallen members at a squatter camp in Germiston. Cachalia says the investigation into the murders is continuing:

# At least 111 people have died after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit western Colombia yesterday. The epicentre was located in San José del Palmar in the Chocó region. Several buildings collapsed or were damaged, including the Manizales Cathedral. Colombia’s president, Abelardo De La Espriella, established a Unified Command Post to coordinate the response to the damage and assist those affected. The earthquake was also felt in parts of Venezuela, less than two months after the country was hit by twin quakes, killing six-thousand-100 people.

# Rugby: SA Rugby has paid tribute to former Springbok hooker Piston van Wyk, who passed away at the age of 82 over the weekend. He played for Northern Transvaal and Natal, now the Bulls and Sharks, and made 15 Test appearances for the Boks between 1970 and 1976. SA Rugby president Mark Alexander says Van Wyk’s career was marked by his formidable scrummaging strength, his unwavering commitment to the team and his memorable performances against some of the world’s toughest opponents.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-17-cents and the euro at 18-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-935-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-392-dollars-65-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-65-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….