News 16:00

BULLETIN 4 September 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Sadec ministers of Health hold a meeting on the Mpox response
# Ukraine’s minister of Foreign Affairs resigns before an expected cabinet reshuffle
# And, rugby: Kolisi is back in training and may just be fit for Saturday’s All Blacks clash

# Ministers of Health from the Southern African Development Community are holding a virtual meeting to assess the Mpox epidemiological outlook and coordinate a regional response. The ministers will discuss the Mpox situation in Africa, enhance public health and cross-border disease surveillance. They will also prioritise multi-sectoral interventions to control the spread. The meeting follows directives from the 44th Sadec summit after Mpox was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation and Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

# The MK Party has welcomed and appreciates the 17.86-billion-rand loan given to the South African government by the BRICS Bank to develop water and sanitation infrastructure. MK’s Floyd Shivhambu says the party also appreciate the 5-billion-rand loan to Transnet. Shivhambu says they know such a loan will not come with neo-liberal and neo-colonial conditions that always accompany loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund:

# The DA has warned that the Road Accident Fund is on the brink of collapse, with payments reportedly halted for nearly four months. The party urges Transport minister Barbara Creecy to intervene urgently, citing a lack of oversight and management issues. The DA’s Chris Hunsinger says without prompt action, the rights of road accident victims will be severely compromised:

# Ukraine’s Foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tendered his resignation ahead of an expected major cabinet reshuffle. This follows a fresh wave of Russian missile attacks overnight that killed at least seven people. As Ukraine’s top diplomat, Kuleba has been a prominent fixture in president Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration, specifically dealing with overseas officials. According to reports from the country’s Parliament, major cabinet changes are expected this week, with resignations from the ministers for Strategic Industries, Justice, Environment, and Reintegration.

# Rugby: Springbok captain Siya Kolisi may just be fit to face the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday after he returned to training today. He suffered a facial injury during the weekend’s Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park, but the swelling has reportedly reduced significantly and chances are he may be included when coach Rassie Erasmus announces his match-day squad tomorrow. Winger Kurt-Lee Arendse watched from the stands after sustaining concussion and won’t be able to play.

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-90-cents and the euro at 19-rand-78-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-48-cents and Bitcoin trades at 56-thousand-533-dollars-83-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-488-dollars-8-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-82-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….