News 07:00

BULLETIN 22 September 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Roelf Meyer says South Africa must communicate its message correctly to the US
# South Africa’s planned crypto curbs may hit deals worth billions
# And cricket: The Proteas coach is confident Rabada will be ready for the Test series against Australia

# South African Ambassador to the United States Roelf Meyer says the bilateral relationship between the two countries needs to be restored through dialogue. Diplomatic tensions have intensified following the new visa restrictions targeting certain South Africans who are complicit in enacting or enforcing policies that allow for uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination, and the incitement of violence against minority groups. Meyer says South Africa also needs to address what he described as “misunderstanding and misrepresentation” about the country’s constitutional framework and democracy:

# SA Canegrowers says retailers and food manufacturers are failing to honour a commitment to buy South African-produced sugar. According to the organisation, local sugar sales have fallen by 20-percent over the past three seasons, despite enough locally produced sugar to meet demand. SA Canegrowers’ spokesperson Higgins Mdluli says some retailers are selling sugar from countries such as Eswatini, which is hurting local farmers and jobs. Mdluli has urged retailers to honour the 95-percent local sourcing commitment.

South Africa’s proposed new rules for cross-border cryptocurrency transactions could put billions of rand in investment at risk. The chief executive of the global crypto exchange company VALR, Farzam Ehsani, says at least 2.2-billion-rand in potential foreign investment in South African crypto businesses has already been put on hold. The amount includes a proposed 1.6-billion-rand investment and two smaller deals worth 250-million-rand and 350-million-rand. The draft rules would restrict South African businesses from using crypto or stablecoins for cross-border payments. Public comments are open until September 30.

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a new proclamation and an amendment authorising the Special Investigating Unit to investigate allegations of serious maladministration and corruption in the Eastern Cape Buffalo City Municipality and the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements. The Buffalo City investigation will focus on procurement irregularities relating to six contracts involving the construction of swimming pools, the demolition of walls and water projects. The SIU spokesperson, Selby Makgotho, says the Gauteng Human Settlements probe relates to two tenders:

# UK prosecutors have brought the first-ever charges against a person for their alleged role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide against the Tutsi. Sixty-five-year-old doctor Vincent Brown, formerly Vincent Bajinya, has been charged with one offence of conduct ancillary to genocide and six offences of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity. The Crown Prosecution Service says he is alleged to have directed and incited acts of murder and genocide carried out by others. Brown will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today.

# Cricket: Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad says Kagiso Rabada’s availability for the three-match Test series against Australia will depend on his progress through rehabilitation. The fast bowler suffered a hamstring injury during South Africa’s training last month. The injury has already ruled him out of this month’s ODI series against Australia. Conrad says he is pretty confident that Rabada will feature in the Test series:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-26-cents and the euro at 18-rand-64-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 85-thousand-644-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-348-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 101-dollars-74-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….