News 18:00

BULLETIN 19 August 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The government welcomes softer inflation figures as households face financial pressure
# Fadiel Adams accuses IDAC advocate Drushantha Ramsamy of lying to the Madlanga Commission
# And, South Korea shortens military exercises with the United States

# Government says it will continue working to strengthen food and energy security, create jobs and reduce the cost of living. This follows the latest inflation figures showing a drop in consumer inflation to 4.3-percent last month from five-percent in June. Deputy government spokesperson William Baloyi says the decline provides some relief to households, but many South Africans are still under financial pressure:

# The Congress of South African Trade Unions welcomes the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union’s Labour Court victory in the Mangaung Correctional Centre matter after the court dismissed an application for leave to appeal. Cosatu’s Zanele Sabela says the judgment is important because it reinforces protections for workers under section 197 of the Labour Relations Act. She says employees cannot simply lose their jobs or rights when operations or services change hands:

# National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams has accused State Advocate Drushantha Ramsamy of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption of lying to the Madlanga Commission about him. Testifying before the commission, Adams claims Ramsamy’s account of their meeting is inaccurate and has called for a recording of the meeting to be subpoenaed and played. He says the recording will support his version and clarify what was discussed:

# South Korea’s defence ministry announced its annual joint military drills with the US will be cut short by six days at the request of Washington. Seoul said that the “period and scale” of the 2026 Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise had been adjusted due to a proposal by the US side. The drill will now conclude on Friday rather than 27 August as planned. It comes after Donald Trump announced plans to curtail exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good” relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

# Rugby: Former Wallaby and Puma coach Michael Cheika will join the Waratahs from the next Super Rugby season. The 59-year-old Australian coached his national team from 2014 to 2019 and Argentina from 2022 to 2023, and also had coaching spells at teams such as Leinster, Stade Francais and Leicester Tigers. Cheika says his home team have always occupied a special place for him, and he is glad to return ahead of an important year for the Waratahs and for Australia, who will host the World Cup.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-12-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-79-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-95-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-300-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-463-dollars-42-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 93-dollars-10-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….