News 13:00

BULLETIN 1 September 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Godfrey Lebeya denies a relationship with businessman Timmy Marimuthu
# Bidvest will invest in a new terminal at Richards Bay to import liquefied petroleum gas
# And tennis: Wawrinka’s final Grand Slam tournament ends in the first round at Flushing Meadows

# Former Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya says he has no specific relationship with controversial businessman Panganathan “Timmy” Marimuthu. Lebeya told the Madlanga commission Marimuthu first came to his attention in December 2010, while investigating appointments in Crime Intelligence. He says the appointments were initially stopped, but proceeded a month later, with 290 people appointed:

# Industrial giant Bidvest is advancing a 2.5-billion-rand capital expenditure plan by constructing a second liquefied petroleum gas terminal at Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal. Group CEO Mpumi Madisa says the major investment in its freight division signals the group’s confidence in South Africa’s prospects. The country has a huge LP Gas supply deficit. Local energy analysts say this expanded infrastructure safeguards against rolling blackouts, stabilizes domestic gas distribution networks, and drives down market costs to provide a dependable, budget-friendly alternative for household cooking and heating.

Moving abroad:

# The death toll from last week’s flash flooding disaster on the border between Nepal and Tibet has now topped one-thousand. The number of people missing has been revised to three-thousand-916, of whom more than 600 are workers believed to be trapped inside mud-filled hydropower tunnels in Nepal. Over on the Chinese Tibet side, at least 16 people have died, and at least 546 are missing. Nepal’s prime minister, Balendra Shah, says the issue of the disasters being experienced is a result of climate change, which needs urgent attention.

# Tennis: Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka’s participation in his final Grand Slam tournament ended in the opening round of the US Open. He lost in straight sets to Italian Matteo Berrettini. Forty-one-year-old Wawrinka will retire at the end of the season after turning professional in 2002 at the age of 17. He won three Grand Slam tournaments, and gold in the men’s doubles at the Beijing Olympic Games with Roger Federer. Wawrinka says he will miss the game as he was given a standing ovation at the Grandstand Arena.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-18-cents and the euro at 18-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-91-cents and Bitcoin trades at 77-thousand-907-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-368-dollars-12-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 94-dollars-54-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Minister of Social Development, Dina Pule, has commended the role of Ilitha Labantu in intensifying the fight against gender-based violence and femicide. The Cape Town-based non-profit organisation focuses on addressing violence against women and children and supporting victims. The department’s spokesperson, Sandy Godlwana, says by classifying GBVF as a national disaster, the full power of the state must be deployed to crack down on violence perpetrated against women and girls:

Stay tuned for more news………….