News 16:00

BULLETIN 22 August 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cabinet expresses concern over the ongoing Israeli attacks on civilians in Palestine
# Stats SA admits Census 2022 data flaws
# And, cricket: The Proteas take on the Windies in three T20s in Tarouba

# Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says cabinet has expressed deep concern over the ongoing Israeli attacks on civilians in Palestine. Cabinet condemns the violence, calling for an immediate end to the hostilities. Briefing the media on the outcomes of the cabinet meeting, Ntshavheni called for international intervention to protect civilians and urged the global community to support efforts toward a peaceful resolution in the region: 

In another development, Cosatu has welcomed the global call to end energy exports to Israel, emphasising solidarity with Palestine. The union federation has praised Colombia for suspending coal exports to Israel and urges South African companies, like Glencore, to give priority to Africa’s energy needs. The organisation calls for divestment from Israel, condemning the monopolies controlling global energy markets which fuel conflicts like the war in Gaza. Cosatu advocates for investment in Africa’s development instead.

# Statistics South Africa has admitted that critical data from Census 2022, including income, employment, and mortality, are too flawed for official use. Previously defended despite a 30-percent undercount, the updated Census 2022 in Brief excludes these themes. Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke says this has been a normal process in all censuses:

# The National Consumer Commission has referred six car dealerships to the National Consumer Tribunal for violating the Consumer Protection Act. The dealerships are Autoview Pre-Owned, Cederquist Trade Transmission, Myaa Auto, Super-Tech-Motor Holding, Avura Motors, and Plett Motors. Complaints involve refusal to repair defective vehicles and failure to honour consumer rights. The commission seeks redress and may impose administrative penalties of 10-percent of each dealership’s annual turnover or one-million-rand, whichever is higher.

# Cricket: The first of three T20s between the Proteas and the Windies will be played in Tarouba tomorrow. This follows the Test series which South Africa won 1-nil after the first Test rained out. The second T20 will take place on Sunday and the final one on Tuesday – both also in Tarouba. Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter says the series is an important part of the team’s journey to the next World Cup final:

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-98-cents and the euro at 20-rand-2-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-57-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-160-dollars-34-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-498-dollars-82-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….