News 07:00

BULLETIN 18 August 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa wants to target  50-percent of the SADC’s intra-trade
# The MK Party and UAT appeal the court ruling on the Impeachment Committee
# And rugby: Erasmus says he is under no illusions about the All Blacks’ playing style

# Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, says South Africa has set an ambitious target of achieving 50-percent intra-South African Development Community trade. Regional trade languishes at around 20-percent of total commerce, and manufacturing contributes only ten-percent of Gross Domestic Product. The entire SADC region continues to export minerals and agricultural commodities while importing manufactured goods. Lamola says beneficiation, building regional value chains and increasing intra-regional trade are essential:

# The MK Party and the United Africans Transformation are seeking leave to appeal an interim interdict by the Western Cape High Court that has halted the work of Parliament’s Impeachment Committee. This comes after the Constitutional Court denied opposition parties led by the African Transformation Movement leave to appeal the High Court interdict, pending president Cyril Ramaphosa’s review application. In court papers, the MK Party and UAT accused Ramaphosa of employing delaying tactics throughout the litigation. The parties also argued the full court made several errors in dismissing their case.

# The South African Local Government Association will today and tomorrow assess the performance of Eastern Cape municipalities and set priorities for the next administration. The focus will be on improving governance, service delivery and local economic growth. SALGA spokesperson Motalatale Modiba says the meeting will also help municipalities prepare for the transition after this year’s local government elections and identify ways to attract investment into communities:

# The South African Artificial Intelligence Association has launched Activate SA, a new initiative aimed at promoting responsible use of artificial intelligence in government and society. The initiative forms part of the Western Cape AI cluster and will focus on AI policy, governance, infrastructure and investment. The first Activate SA AI summit will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from 25 to 27 August. Organisers say the initiative aims to grow the province’s AI sector, support local entrepreneurs and attract investment.

# Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says an agreement has been reached with the US-led Board of Peace to establish two working groups. This follows a meeting Netanyahu had with US envoy and president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner yesterday. Netanyahu’s office says the first working group will focus on disarmament and demilitarisation of Gaza, which both Israel and the Board of Peace are determined should be completed before any reconstruction happens. It says the second working group will look at sanitation, clean water and other public health issues.

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says they are under no illusions about how the All Blacks want to play. There are only two injury concerns in the squad at this stage, captain Siya Kolisi and prop Ox Nche, who could miss the first Test at Ellis Park on Saturday. Erasmus shrugged off the narrative coming out of New Zealand that the Boks are slowing down the game. He says they always try to find a balance when games are really tight:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-23-cents and the euro at 18-rand-79-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-151-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-399-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….