News 12:00
BULLETIN 5 August 12 pm
Good afternoon. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# Gauteng has a new revenue strategy to address e-toll debt
# Biden aims to turn the temperature down in the Middle East
# And, Olympic Games: Adam Peaty questions China’s victory in the men’s relay after doping allegations
# The Gauteng government plans to tackle its 17-billion-rand debt to the South African National Roads Agency for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project by using a new revenue strategy. An agreement between National Treasury and the provincial government led to e-tolls being switched off and scrapped in April. Finance MEC, Lebogang Maile, says they are aiming to pay Gauteng’s 30-percent portion of Sanral’s debt and interest obligations by raising money to invest in infrastructure rather than finance debt repayment.
Staying in Gauteng: The provincial Health Department has refuted claims of neglecting cancer patient treatment. The department is accused of under-spending almost 800-million-rand allocated to oncology services. Cancer Alliance, represented by Section 27, has launched a court application against the department to force it to provide radiation treatment to patients on the backlog list. Speaking to eNCA, chair of chairs in the Gauteng legislature, Dulton Adams, believes this matter can be resolved out of court:
# The White House says president Joe Biden will meet with his national security team today to discuss developments in the Middle East. This follows the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Lebanese group Hezbollah’s senior military commander Fuad Shukur last week. Iran has vowed severe retaliation against Israel, which it blames for Haniyeh’s death. The White House’s deputy national security adviser, Jonathan Finer, told CBS they are trying to prevent any further attacks:
# Olympic Games: Britian’s six-time Olympic swimming medallist Adam Peaty has questioned China’s victory in the men’s four-by-100-metre medley relay in Paris following doping allegations. Two of the swimmers, Qin Haiyang and Sun Jiajun, were among the 23 Chinese swimmers who reportedly returned positive doping tests before the Tokyo Olympics. They were all cleared to compete based on a finding they had unknowingly ingested a banned substance via contaminated food. Peaty says there is no point in winning if you are not winning fairly.
# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-48-cents and the euro at 20-rand-27-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-68-cents and Bitcoin trades at 52-thousand-720-dollars-5-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-430-dollars-95-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-16-cents a barrel.
# And, a Mossel Bay teacher has been crowned Mr Global South Africa 2024. Diaz Primary School’s Anton Siebert was among 16 finalists who participated in the competition. Judges praised Siebert’s originality, and more especially his Project Blessing, an animal welfare charity. The project involves taking care of animals whilst also teaching children about love, care and respect. The first runner-up was JP Geldenhuys from Gauteng. Siebert was the Mr South Africa’s second prince in 2021 and the Mr Supranational SA 2023 runner-up.
Stay tuned for more news………….