News 16:00

BULLETIN 7 August 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A report shows that financial institutions remain strong despite economic challenges
# Chief Justice Zondo urges nominations for a Constitutional Court vacancy
# And, rugby: Springbok Evan Roos will miss the rest of the year after a shoulder operation

# The South African Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority has reported that most financial institutions under its supervision remain strong despite economic challenges. The authority is addressing weaknesses flagged by the Financial Action Task Force when South Africa was grey-listed for deficiencies in combating money laundering and terrorism financing. CEO Fundi Tshazibana emphasises their focus on ensuring robust governance in financial institutions to safeguard consumer deposits and policyholders’ funds. Efforts to comply with the task force’s requirements are on track, aiming to remove South Africa from the grey list.

# Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has reiterated calls for nominations to fill a long-standing Constitutional Court vacancy. Zondo’s office received three nominations, insufficient for shortlisting. Nominations are due 30 August with interviews in October, alongside nominees for the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Western Cape High Court. Zondo emphasises the importance of filling this position:

# Cosatu says it is critical that president Cyril Ramaphosa urgently assents the Railway Safety Amendment Bill. This will significantly enhance the powers of the Railway Safety Regulator to ensure safety on the country’s railways. Cosatu’s spokesperson, Zanele Sabela, says this needs to be accompanied by an aggressive safety campaign by Metrorail, Transnet and local governments to ensure the safety of all railway sidings, particularly those in residential communities that experience high traffic volumes:

# The United Nations World Food Programme secured only 20-percent in drought aid for Southern Africa. This is approximately 1.5-billion-rand of its almost eight-billion-rand target, to address the drought in seven affected countries. The region has been hit hard by the El Niño weather pattern, and faces its worst drought in decades, which resulted in widespread crop failures and food insecurity. Despite significant donor support, the WFP can only provide aid to 5.9-million of the 27-million people in need until the 2025 harvest.

# Rugby: Evan Roos will only be available for the Springboks again next year. The Stormers number eighth underwent an operation to fix a long-term shoulder injury docters advised him not to delay. He will be out for six to nine months and is only expected to be back in February. In Roos’s absence, the national team still has Elrigh Louw, who gets his first start in Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane, and World Cup winners Jasper Wiese and Kwagga Smith.

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-35-cents and the euro at 20-rand-3-centw. One British pound costs 23-rand-35-cents and Bitcoin trades at 57-thousand-75-dollars-29-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-401-dollars-88-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-20-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….