News 15:00

BULLETIN NEWS AGENCY 12 August 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The court postpones the case of Ace Magashule’s former personal assistant
# Three power stations show improvement in generation capacity
# And, rugby: The All Blacks promise a backlash after the shock defeat to Argentina

# The case against Moroadi Cholota, former Free State premier Ace Magashule’s former personal assistant, has been postponed to tomorrow. Cholota is facing charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering related to a 255-million-rand asbestos contract. She appeared briefly in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court. The delay allows the state to finalise its response to her bail application. Cholota, recently extradited from the US, has been detained for four-months and is accused of facilitating corrupt transactions for Magashule.

# Minister of Electricity and Energy, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has reported progress in generation capacity at Tutuka, Kendal, and Kriel power stations. Ramokgopa says measures have enhanced performance, but warns that South Africa is not yet free from load-shedding challenges. He says continued vigilance and improvements are necessary to permanently address power supply issues:

# Metalworkers union Numsa is calling for respect of Venezuela’s democratic process and demands that all governments worldwide honour the will of the Venezuelan people. Numsa’s spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, says according to the National Electoral Council, president Nicolas Maduro won the elections by 51-percent of the national vote against the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who received 44-percent of the vote:

# Rugby: Argentina can expect a backlash from New Zealand when the sides clash again in Auckland following the hosts’ shock 38-30 defeat in the Rugby Championship. New Zealand assistant coach Scott Hansen says All Blacks fans can expect a better display from their team. The teams meet again this Saturday at Auckland’s Eden Park, where New Zealand have not lost for 30 years, spanning nearly 50 Test victories. Hansen says many lessons had been learnt during a frank appraisal of the Wellington defeat.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-22-cents and the euro at 19-rand-91-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 59-thousand-402-dollars-86-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-441-dollars-73-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-41-cents a barrel.

# And, finallly: The elusive artist Banksy has confirmed he painted swimming piranhas onto a City of London Police sentry box, which was first spotted yesterday morning. Crowds gathered to take photos until barriers were installed, preventing people from going inside. This is his seventh new artwork to be revealed in the capital in as many days, following a goat, monkeys, elephants, a wolf, pelicans and a cat. Banksy apparently hopes the uplifting works will cheer people up and underline the human capacity for creative play, rather than for destruction and negativity.

Stay tuned for more news………….