News 12:00

BULLETIN 7 September 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Business Leadership South Africa says the country needs to turn reform into real improvement
# Minister Hlabisa welcomes 100 municipalities’ adoption of the Code for Ethical Leadership in Local Government
# And Israeli air strikes kill 11 people in Lebanon

# Business Leadership South Africa says despite plenty of signs that reform is moving forward, business confidence is far behind. Business confidence fell to 38-percent in quarter three, with 62-percent of respondents dissatisfied with prevailing business conditions. BLSA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso says the most significant positive signal is that National Treasury has issued a call for proposals for advisors on the unbundling of Eskom’s transmission assets. Mavuso says South Africa still has a long way to go to turn reform into a real improvement in the operating environment.

# Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, has welcomed 100 municipalities’ adoption of the Code for Ethical Leadership in Local Government. The code aims to build a local government committed to ethical standards, service delivery, and good governance. The department’s spokesperson, Pearl Maseko-Binqose, says the adoption reflects a growing commitment within local government to place ethical leadership and accountability at the heart of municipal leadership:

Moving abroad:

# At least eleven people, including two children, have been killed in Israeli air strikes in a village in southern Lebanon. The strikes hit a three-story residential building and a civilian vehicle in Kfar Rumman. The Israeli Defence Force says this was retaliation for drone attacks by armed group Hezbollah on its soldiers in occupied areas of the country. Lebanese president Joseph Aoun has warned the attacks were a dangerous escalation that jeopardised the US-brokered ceasefire agreed to in June.

# Tennis: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has set up a blockbuster quarterfinal clash against American Ben Shelton at the US Open. The Spaniard beat American 20th seed Tommy Paul, while Shelton defeated Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas. Another local, Frances Tiafoe, dispatched of 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia. In the women’s draw, two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus beat American Taylor Townsend to reach a sixth straight US Open quarterfinal. She will face Wimbledon champion, Czech Linda Noskova, who overcame Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-96-cents and the euro at 18-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-61-cents and Bitcoin trades at 79-thousand-443-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-422-dollars-98-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 97-dollars-94-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Cape Town metro is inviting filmmakers to apply for support through an additional Film Fund round, with submissions open from today for productions expected to be completed in the 2026/27 financial year. The fund provides financial support or municipal services support for projects produced in Cape Town. Mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says this aims to drive local economic development, create jobs and strengthen emerging talent:

Stay tuned for more news………….