News 12:00

BULLETIN 13 August 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa offers condolences on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba ferry tragedy
# South Africa’s engineering skills crisis needs urgent action
# And, tennis: It will be Ben Shelton against Brandon Nakashima and Elena Rybakina versus Iga Swiatek in the Canadian Open finals

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has offered condolences to the Zimbabwean government and people following the tragedy on Lake Kariba. At least 44 people died yesterday when an overcrowded ferry capsized after it was hit by a strong wave. Seventy-seven people have been rescued. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared a state of disaster. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says thoughts are also with the survivors and families who await the outcome of continuing search operations:

# Acting national police commissioner Puleng Dimpane has deployed additional specialised capacity to support rescue, recovery and investigative operations at a disused mine in Nkaneng near Rustenburg in North West. This follows Tuesday’s recovery of 14 bodies of suspected illegal miners after shaft walls collapsed. Eight survivors were rescued. Spokesperson Nonkululeko Phokane says the operation is supported by specialised expertise, resources and personnel required to effectively manage the investigation and recovery efforts:

# City Power in Johannesburg says the current interruptions to power supply should not be interpreted as an indication the network is unable to withstand the weather. Rain, light snowfall and strong winds have gripped parts of Gauteng, with the power utility tackling a backlog of six-thousand outage calls. Spokesperson Isaac Mangena says the incidents have been driven by factors such as increased demand, infrastructure faults, vandalism and theft of critical infrastructure:

# The Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme is calling for stronger cooperation between the government, schools, universities and businesses to address the shortage of engineers and information technology professionals. The organisation says South Africa needs better career guidance, student support and funding to help more young people qualify for scarce-skills careers. It adds building a stronger pipeline of engineering and technology graduates is essential to support infrastructure development, innovation and long-term economic growth.

# Tennis: Defending champion Ben Shelton will face fellow American Brandon Nakashima in the Canadian Open final in Montreal. He defeated compatriot Learner Tien, while Nakashima beat Spaniard Rafael Jodar to book his spot in his first ATP Masters One-thousand final. In the women’s draw in Toronto, world number two, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, will take on Poland’s Iga Swiatek in the final. Rybakina rallied from a set down to beat American Coco Gauff, while Swiatek defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-18-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-65-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-81-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-821-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-367-dollars-10-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-44-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….