News 09:00

BULLETIN 23 September 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Political parties and independent candidates will today sign the Electoral Code of Conduct
# TLU SA welcomes the private sector’s help in addressing the vaccine shortages for foot and mouth disease
# And, the British prime minister accuses Russia of running a disinformation campaign

# Political parties and independent candidates contesting the November local government elections will sign the Code of Conduct Pledge in Midrand, Gauteng today. They will reaffirm their commitment to upholding the Electoral Code of Conduct and its new supporting Code on Countering Disinformation. The code sets out the standards of conduct expected during the election period, with consequences provided for in law where it is contravened. According to the Electoral Commission, 136-thousand-790 candidates have been certified to contest ten-thousand-526 council seats for the elections.

# Agricultural organisation TLU SA has welcomed the government’s move to involve the private sector in local foot-and-mouth disease vaccine production in South Africa. The Agricultural Research Council has approved a proposal by minister of Agriculture Willie Aucamp to allow qualifying private companies to use the ARC’s intellectual property to manufacture its FMD vaccine at a large scale. This comes as government moves to address production constraints amid the outbreak. TLU SA’s Bennie van Zyl says this is a significant step in safeguarding the country’s agriculture sector:

# The Freedom Front Plus says it is concerning that Quintile five public schools in Gauteng will receive only a small subsidy increase in the 2027/2028 financial year. Premier Panyaza Lesufi confirmed that the subsidy will be increased from 315-rand to 329-rand per learner, an increase of only 4.4-percent. FF Plus’s Anton Alberts says Lesufi has attributed the meagre increase to budgetary constraints, including the reduced allocation from the National Treasury and the repayment of e-toll debt:

# UK prime minister Andy Burnham accused Russia of information warfare and attempting to interfere in his country’s 2019 election. In his first major international speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he hit out at what he called Moscow’s attempts to spread lies and disinformation. Burnham claimed the Kremlin spends around 28-billion-rand each year on manipulating information. To counter this, Burnham announced a new National Centre for Information Defence to detect and disrupt artificial intelligence-enabled disinformation campaigns by hostile states:

# Cricket: Will Jacks starred with bat and ball as England defeated Sri Lanka by 89 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series in Durham. Captain Harry Brook top-scored with 67, while Jacks scored an unbeaten 46 as the hosts were restricted to 265. In reply, Jacks took career-best five wickets for 22 runs as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 176 in 37 overs. England can seal a third ODI series win in a row with a game to spare tomorrow at Headingley.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-18-cents and the euro at 18-rand-50-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-55-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 87-thousand-133-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-345-dollars-52-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 98-dollars-76-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….