News 18:00

BULLETIN 24 August 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A student crowd funding organisation welcomes Parliament’s backing of the release of student graduation certificates
# The Gauteng Education MEC is disturbed by an alleged attempted sexual assault at a school
# And, four people were arrested over the suspected poisoning of Kenyan elephants

# Student crowdfunding organisation Feenix welcomes Parliament’s backing of a Public Protector recommendation that universities reconsider withholding graduation certificates over student debt. This follows a report of over 188-thousand withheld certificates linked to 55-billion-rand in debt, and administrative failures at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. Feenix Chief Executive Officer Care-Jean Petersen says collective action is needed to help students graduate:

# Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile is deeply concerned about an alleged attempted sexual assault at Villa Liza Secondary School in Boksburg. A grade eight girl was allegedly followed into the girls’ toilets by two male learners who restrained her and attempted to remove some of her clothing. The department’s Onwabile Lubhelwana says the department will cooperate with the investigation and provide psychosocial support to the learner and her family:

# The Office of the Chief Justice warns of a fraudster impersonating Acting Judge President Zamani Nhlangulela of the Eastern Cape Division. The judiciary said yesterday, it is aware of WhatsApp messages sent using Nhlangulela’s profile picture and a mobile number registered in his name to mislead recipients. The OCJ says misrepresenting a state of affairs knowing it is false amounts to fraud and the matter will be reported to authorities. He urged the public to be aware.

# Four people have been arrested in Kenya as investigators try to establish what killed 18 elephants in the Amboseli ecosystem. The Kenyan Wildlife Service says the animals died between June and last month, with preliminary laboratory tests pointing to possible poisoning. Earlier findings suggested cyanide may have been present in pesticide-contaminated tomatoes eaten by the elephants. Authorities have seized several potentially toxic, unlabelled chemicals for testing. The investigation is continuing, while officials stressed that the arrests do not necessarily establish guilt.

# Rugby: South African Women’s ‘A’-side captain, Mary Zulu, says they are ready to embrace the challenge of facing Brazil in São Paulo. The first of two matches will take place tomorrow. Zulu and other backs, Shaunique Alexander and Insaaf Levy, have played for the Springbok team. The side contains eight 20-year-olds and two 19-year-olds. Zulu says they will need to bring their best effort to stand a chance of winning:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-1-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-68-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 78-thousand-90-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-661-dollars-10-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 93-dollars-84-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….