News 11:00

BULLETIN 3 September 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF is concerned with the debt owed by municipalities to pension funds
# A defiant Netanyahu says hostages will be released through military pressure
# And rugby: The All Blacks are looking to improve in their second Test against the Boks

# The EFF says it is concerned that 172 municipalities owe more than one-billion-rand in pension fund contributions. This is contained in a report by the Financial Sector Authority, with the George and Mossel Bay municipalities in the Western Cape being the biggest offenders. Both municipalities, which have not paid pension contributions in years, are governed by the DA. The EFF says this blatantly reckless behaviour is a ticking time bomb that places municipal workers at financial risk.

Meanwhile, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse says the proposed Local Government: General Laws Amendment Bill is a missed opportunity to improve municipal governance. The organisation argues the bill weakens accountability by extending the period for acting municipal managers and allowing irregularly appointed municipal managers to remain in office for up to three-months. OUTA’s Jonathan Erasmus believes the bill lowers standards, potentially allowing incompetence, misuse of public funds and increased political meddling:  

# Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he disagrees with US president Joe Biden’s stance that he is not doing enough to secure a ceasefire deal. Tens of thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating against the government’s handling of the war in Gaza, and lack of effort to release hostages held by Hamas. The protests were prompted by the discovery of the bodies of six hostages in Gaza. Netanyahu says he will free hostages through military pressure instead of sealing a deal with Hamas:

# Rugby: New Zealand forwards coach Jason Ryan says they want to build on the positive aspects of the first Championship Test against South Africa heading into the second game in Cape Town. The All Blacks lost 27-31 to the Springboks at Ellis Park. Ryan says the drop in intensity and lack of scoring in the final quarter of the first game are issues they are looking at:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-86-cents and the euro at 19-rand-78-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-46-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-884-dollars-67-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-498-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-44-cents a barrel.

# And finally, three films screened at the 51st Telluride Film Festival in Colorado in the US have been tipped to win an Oscar. They are Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora, Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez, and Jason Reitman’s dark comedy Saturday Night. Will Ferrell could land his first Oscar nomination for the documentary Will and Harper. Another film that made an impact is Malcolm Washington’s directorial debut, The Piano Lesson. The official Oscar nominations will be announced on the 17th of January.

Stay tuned for more news………….