News 11:00

BULLETIN 5 September 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Simelane won’t be shielded from accountability
# Extortionists delay construction worth nearly 400-million-rand in the Western Cape
# And the US accuses Russia of interfering with its presidential election

# Deputy minister of Justice Andries Nel says minister Thembi Simelane will not be shielded from accountability over the VBS Mutal Bank allegations. The minister is set to appear before Parliament’s portfolio committee on Justice and Constitutional Development tomorrow, to explain a suspicious loan she received when she was mayor of Polokwane, from a company owned by a man with links to VBS. Nel says the National Prosecuting Authority will act against anyone, despite their political affiliation or position held.

# Union federation Saftu says the 0.4-percent fractional growth in the economy will not halt, let alone reverse, the catastrophic levels of unemployment in the country. The second Quarterly Labour Force Survey revealed that official unemployment increased to 8.3-million in the second quarter of this year. Saftu’s Mogoshadi Maserumule says it is clear that the economy cannot develop on a neoliberal macro-economic framework:

# Extortionists are targeting six Western Cape government construction sites worth nearly 400-million-rand, and as a result have delayed projects by as much as three years. This was revealed by the provincial Infrastructure Department in a reply to a question from the DA. The projects affected include Valpark Primary School. The project is worth three-million-rand, and has been delayed by three years. The City of Cape Town has taken a strong stance against extortionists and the construction mafia, spending over 40-million-rand on security to protect sites.

# US attorney general, Merrick Garland, says Russian president Vladamir Putin’s inner circle directed companies to promote disinformation as part of a programme to influence the presidential election. The Justice Department has filed charges against two Moscow-based managers of state broadcaster RT, for allegedly paying content creators in America to pump pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation to US audiences. Garland says 32 bogus website domains purchased by Russian security services have been seized:

# Cricket: The famous Lord’s stadium in London will host the final of the World Test championship for the first time next year. The previous final took place at The Oval in the British capital last year, when Australia beat India. Nine Test countries are vying for the two top spots, who will face off in the final from 11 June. India is currently on top of the log, followed by Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Windies.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-82-cents and the euro at 19-rand-75-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-43-cents and Bitcoin trades at 56-thousand-866-dollars-31-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-503-dollars-26-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-98-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….