News 09:00

BULLETIN 28 August 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Manamela says the National Student Financial Aid Scheme must have stronger systems and controls
# The suspended deputy chief of the Ekurhuleni metro police is served with a fifth arrest warrant
# And, Donald Trump signs an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America

# Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela has urged the National Student Financial Aid Scheme board to urgently strengthen systems, controls and governance. He met with the board yesterday on the implementation of a court order, institutional continuity and the functioning of NSFAS in the period ahead. This as the scheme transitions from administration to interim arrangements ordered by the courts. Manamela says the court order has not resolved the underlying institutional problems at NSFAS:

# Deputy minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Mmapaseka Letsike, has called for the social and solidarity economy to become a key vehicle for creating jobs, expanding ownership and delivering more inclusive economic growth. She cited economic growth of 0.5-percent in the first quarter of this year, while in the second quarter, 8.5 million South Africans were officially unemployed. Letsike says the country needs to build economic institutions that translate the constitutional values of dignity, equality, freedom and democratic participation into people’s everyday lives.

# Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi was served with his fifth arrest warrant yesterday, linked to the blue-lights saga involving alleged underworld figure Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala. Mkhwanazi is alleged to have unlawfully approved the fitting of blue lights to four private luxury vehicles linked to Matlala’s security company, Cat Protection Services. The vehicles were allegedly irregularly registered as City of Ekurhuleni assets. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate says the two will appear in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court today.

# US president Donald Trump has escalated his trade war with Canada by signing an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America”. The lake borders Ontario, Canada, and New York. Last year, he signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, a move that was rejected by the Mexican government. Trump says the name change reflects the fact that the deepest parts of the lake’s waters and most of its volume are in US territory:

# Roadrunning: The marathon world record holder, Sebastian Sawe, has withdrawn from next month’s Berlin Marathon in the German capital. The 31-year-old Kenyan shattered the two-hour barrier when he won the London Marathon in April in one-hour-59-minutes-30 seconds. Berlin would have been his first competition since then, and he was looking forward to the very flat course, which makes it a favourite for potential records. Sawe experiences stiff competition from Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, who is the only other man to complete a marathon in under two hours.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-99-cents and the euro at 18-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-72-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 79-thousand-851-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-584-dollars-7-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-61-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….