News 06:00

BULLETIN 2 September 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IEC rejects the ANC’s claims of a technical fault on its website
# Shoprite lifts its headline earnings by 12.2-percent
# And, Nepal is hopeful that some of the thousands missing can still be rescued

# The Electoral Commission says it has not given the ANC an additional opportunity beyond the 5 pm deadline of Friday last week to submit its candidate nomination lists. The party failed to submit its lists for several Eastern Cape municipalities owing to ‘technical issues’ with the commission’s candidate-capture system. The ANC claimed it was engaging the IEC to ensure all its candidate lists for the local government elections are captured. The IEC says the system was open for two weeks, giving all parties enough time to submit their lists.

# Statistics South Africa says 85-percent of people aged 16 years and older identified addiction, substance or alcohol abuse as the leading cause of violence against women and children. Spokesperson Boitumelo Mooketsi says the latest victims of crime report from the governance, public safety and justice survey indicates more than 80-percent of women and men believe spouses or intimate partners are responsible for most acts of gender-based violence:

# South Africa’s largest retailer Shoprite has reported a 12.2-percent increase in annual headline earnings, driven by steady sales growth and expansion in its core grocery business. Merchandise sales from continuing operations increased 7.2-percent to 270.8-billion-rand in the 52 weeks to June 28, from 252.7-billion-rand a year earlier. Shoprite says its focus is on affordability-supported growth, while its South African supermarket operations and digital businesses continued to perform strongly. Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht says the group’s performance reflects its ability to deliver value to customers while continuing to grow its businesses.

# ActionSA has referred eThekwini city manager Musa Mbhele to the National Prosecuting Authority over alleged corruption linked to the Phoenix housing project. This after the Special Investigating Unit found evidence of corruption and recommended that several companies and individuals be blacklisted. ActionSA’s Alan Beesley says the municipality continued to use some of the companies despite the findings. Beesley also raised concerns over Mbhele’s alleged failure to act on the findings:

# Nepal’s Foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, says he remains hopeful that the nearly four-thousand people still missing following last week’s deadly flash floods can still be rescued alive. Among the missing are over 600 workers believed to be trapped in a vast network of mud-filled tunnels at hydropower sites along the Trishuli River. The death toll from the devastating Himalayan glacial floods has crossed one-thousand. Khanal says rescue operations are ongoing with the support of the international community. He adds that miracles do happen:

# Cricket: South Africa claimed a 43-run win over Zimbabwe in their Namibia T20 tri-series contest to all but secure their spot in the final in Windhoek. Lhuan-dré Pretorius scored 94 runs from 51 balls and shared an opening partnership of 68 with Jordan Hermann, before a second-wicket stand of 86 with Dewald Brevis, as the Proteas posted 185 for seven. In reply, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 142, with Duan Jansen and Bjorn Fortuin sharing seven wickets. South Africa will face Namibia in their last round-robin match on Friday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-15-cents and the euro at 18-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 77-thousand-188-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-327-dollars-25-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 97-dollars-39-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….