News 12:00

BULLETIN 23 August 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Niehaus says MK members want him to join the party
# Residents affected by dam bursts in the Western Cape are urged to sue the national government
# And, cricket: The first-ever women’s Test at Lord’s will be played in 2026

# EFF member of Parliament Carl Niehaus says many MK Party members have been sending him messages calling him to join the party. Last week, one of the EFF’s co-founders, Floyd Shivambu, announced his departure from the party to join former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party. Niehaus says he remains loyal to the EFF:

# AfriForum has condemned a WhatsApp message allegedly sent by a director of the Nketoana Local Municipality in the Free State, Disebo Motaung, for advocating violence with the words “the best is to kill the boer”. AfriForum’s Jacques Broodryk says the civil rights group has called for Motaung’s immediate dismissal, labeling the comment as racist and inciting violence. He warns of its potential to fuel division and unrest:

# The Freedom Front Plus in Gauteng says the provincial government can no longer stand idly by while municipalities fail to execute their mandate to maintain dumping sites. At present, 14 dumping sites in the province do not comply with the municipal regulations for the disposition of waste materials. The FF Plus’s Jaco Mulder says an additional problem affecting municipal dumping sites is squatters who live near the sites to collect and sell recyclable materials:

# Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Anton Bredell, is urging residents affected by floods caused by the dam bursts in Dassenberg, Riverlands, near Malmesbury to sue the national government. Earlier this month, the wall of one of four dams on the property breached, affecting two other dams and resulting in flooding in Riverlands, Chatsworth and Dassenberg. Bredell says the land belongs to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, and the Department of Water and Sanitation was responsible for dam safety.

# Cricket: The first-ever women’s Test to be played at the hallowed grounds of Lord’s in London will see England and India do battle in 2026. This will be England’s first home Test since the Ashes series in 2023, when Australia beat them at Trent Bridge. That was played over five-days compared to the usual women’s format of four days, but BBC Sport reports the length of the Lord’s Test hasn’t been confirmed. The famous stadium was opened in 1814 and hosted 130 Tests since 1884.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-96-cents and the euro at 19-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-57-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-147-dollars-58-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-495-dollars-5-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-57-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….