News 16:00

BULLETIN 9 September 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Parliament’s Section 89 committee plans to oppose the court bids over its evidence leader
# Iran attacks a US base in Jordan and oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz
# And soccer: A forum backs a leadership change at SAFA

# Parliament’s Section 89 impeachment committee faces fresh legal challenges after rescinding its recommendation of advocate Thandazani Madonsela as evidence leader. The African Legal Practitioners’ Association and the EFF have filed separate High Court applications, arguing the decision was irrational, despite Madonsela accepting the withdrawal in the Western Cape High court this morning. The committee withdrew his name after president Cyril Ramaphosa raised conflict-of-interest concerns. EFF Member of Parliament Omphile Maotwe says the party will continue to challenge poor parliamentary decision-making.

# Solidarity has expressed concern over growing mining retrenchments after Sibanye-Stillwater announced one-thousand-114 employees and contractors could be affected by restructuring at its Kwezi shaft in Rustenburg, North West. Spokesperson Willie Venter says one-thousand-214 jobs are under threat at De Beers’ Venetia mine and one-thousand-800 at Petra Diamonds’ Finsch and Cullinan mines. He says it’s a worrying loss of job security in an industry on which thousands of families and communities depend:

Moving abroad:

#  Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it ​fired ballistic missiles at a base in Jordan used by the US military and attacked 10 ships after America said it had destroyed ‌five Iranian oil tankers. This is a sharp escalation of the six-month-old war. Increased attacks by both sides have shattered a month of relative calm, hitting military, shipping and energy assets, sending oil prices surging and drawing in regional allies in recent days. Jordan says its air defences intercepted 18 of the 20 Iranian missiles, with no casualties.

# Soccer: Activists and Citizens Forum is calling for a leadership change at local governing body SAFA ahead of this weekend’s elective conference. Spokesperson Dennis Bloem says SAFA president Danny Jordaan is a liability and should step aside, citing reports of financial challenges, and says urgent intervention is needed. He emphasises the forum’s backing of businessman Sandile Zungu for the presidency, saying his business experience and passion for soccer could help rescue SAFA and strengthen the development of the game in South Africa.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-4-cents and the euro at 18-rand-68-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 79-thousand-401-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-398-dollars-27-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 102-dollars-44-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The DA in Gauteng is demanding an opening date for the Women’s Living Heritage Monument in Pretoria. Spokesperson Leanne de Jager welcomes the issuing of the monument’s long-awaited occupancy certificate but says the 200-million-rand facility must now open to the public. The monument has remained closed since 2018 amid construction and compliance problems. De Jager calls on the Gauteng government to ensure the facility opens and remains operational:

Stay tuned for more news………….