News 07:00

BULLETIN 12 August 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA wants answers regarding the closure of over five-million dockets since 2018
# There is concern over the public sector wage bill
# And cricket: The Proteas draw their first Test against the Windies

# The DA says it wants the police top brass, led by the minister Senzo Mchunu, to appear before Parliament’s portfolio committee on Police, over the closure of over 5.4-million dockets since 2018. The dockets were closed due to insufficient evidence or leads since the 2018/2019 financial year. The DA’s, Lisa Schickerling, says the information provided by Mchunu highlights key areas of concern in docket management and the capacity and staffing shortages in the police’s detective services:

# The Centre for Risk Analysis says there is a growing risk of funding being diverted from national priorities to service the country’s debt and to foot the public sector wage bill. A report by the centre highlights that South Africa’s public sector wage bill costs around 721-billion-rand a year, over 30-percent of the country’s budget. The centre’s Chris Hattingh says the public sector wage bill significantly pressures an already constrained fiscus. The current two-year wage agreement ends in April next year.

# The City of Johannesburg says it is disappointed about the contempt application brought by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies regarding the implementation of a court order on the development of nine properties in Zondi, Soweto. The city’s spokesperson, Nthatisi Modingoane, says in terms of the order, the city is required to write off the rates and taxes of nine property owners, install electricity, and connect bulk services:

# Limpopo MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Violet Mathye, says the government will not tolerate any activity that seeks to compromise the safety and security of citizens. This follows the discovery of a suspected military firearm training facility in Modimolle in the Waterberg District Municipality. The MEC’s acting spokesperson, Phuti Lekganyane, says Mathye has lauded the Hawks and police’s ability to intercept and pounce on an unlicensed facility, which was conducting illegal business:

# European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has condemned Israel’s deadly strike on a school and mosque in Gaza sheltering displaced people. More than 80 people were killed. Borrell says there is no justification for these massacres. Hamas called the strike a horrific crime and a serious escalation. Egypt’s foreign ministry says Israel’s deliberate killing of Palestinians proves a lack of political will to end the war in Gaza. The UK and Jordan have also condemned the strike.

# Cricket: Rain and an impressive batting performance from Alick Athinaze denied South Africa victory on the final day of the first Test against the West Indies in Trinidad. The Proteas declared their second innings on 173 for three, setting the home side a target of 298 to win. Twenty-five-year-old Athanaze scored a career-best 92 and shared a fifth-wicket partnership of 65 with Jason Holder to draw the match. This is the first drawn Test worldwide in 28 matches, since July last year. The second Test starts in Guyana on Thursday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-28-cents and the euro at 19-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-34-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-394-dollars-79-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-423-dollars-88-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 79-dollars-68-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….