News 11:00

BULLETIN 25 August 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa will answer questions in Parliament today, including on migration, the water crisis and illegal mining
# The FF Plus says municipalities should be driving the economy, not holding it back
# And rugby: Rassie Erasmus says the Boks are ready to make things right in the second Test against the All Blacks

# President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to answer questions in the National Assembly this afternoon, including laying out government’s efforts to stop migration-related issues and actions from harming South Africa’s image or standing. He will give updates on interventions under the National Water Crisis Action Plan, efforts to combat illegal mining, and restore the capacity of municipalities. The Presidency says Ramaphosa will also share the country’s contribution to efforts to ensure Madagascar returns to a constitutional and democratic order.

# The Freedom Front Plus says South Africa cannot sustainably restore its trade markets, investments and economic growth if local government isn’t restored first. It cites mismanagement, water outages, crumbling roads and poor waste management as issues affecting municipalities. Spokesperson Jaco Mulder says they should go back to the basic principles of competent governance, financial discipline, effective revenue collection, regular infrastructure maintenance, and consequences for mismanagement and non-performance:

# The National Prosecuting Authority remains committed to prosecuting corruption, fraud, and crimes that undermine essential public infrastructure and service delivery. Seven Emfuleni Municipality employees were arrested for allegedly running a cash‑for‑reconnection scheme. They allegedly netted 150-thousand-rand through fraud, theft, money laundering and tampering with essential infrastructure. NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana says they defrauded the municipality by illegally reconnecting electricity to businesses and individuals whose accounts were in arrears at a cost:

Moving abroad:

# Iran’s Economy minister, Ali Madanizadeh, says Tehran is fully prepared to counter US sanctions. Washington has imposed new sanctions, focusing on digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also threatened to impose severe sanctions against any country or entity maintaining economic ties with Tehran. Madanizadeh says they have a two-year plan to counter the sanctions, accusing the US of waging economic terrorism against Iran.

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says they are determined to bounce back from their bruising 33-16 defeat to the All Blacks in the first Test in Johannesburg. Handrè Pollard returns at flyhalf for Saturday’s second Test in Cape Town, while Cobus Reinach and Ethan Hooker are also included. Siya Kolisi will play if fit. Erasmus says they need to convert the chances they create into points to earn the desired result:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-1-cents and the euro at 18-rand-66-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-786-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-639-dollars-70-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….