News 13:00

BULLETIN NEWS AGENCY 6 September 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Justice minister Thembi Simelane denies having an improper relationship with a contractor in the VBS scandal
# Gauteng’s e-Government urgently needs 700-million-rand to upgrade their internet infrastructure 
# And, soccer: Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 900th career goal

# Justice Minister Thembi Simelane has denied any improper relationship with the contractor involved in the VBS scandal during her tenure as mayor of Polokwane. She appeared before Parliament’s Justice portfolio committee to address claims that she received a 575-thousand-600-rand loan from a VBS-linked fixer to pay for a Sandton coffee shop. Simelane maintains that she did not unduly benefit from the looting of VBS Mutual Bank and was never involved in the appointment of the fixer, Gundo Wealth Solutions:

# The Gauteng Department of e-Government requires 700-million-rand to upgrade the province’s internet infrastructure. This was revealed during an oversight inspection by the portfolio committee on e-Government at the Security Operations Centre in Rivonia. The DA’s Michael Waters says internet security of Gauteng government departments are at risk of having their data stolen or systems being hacked:

# The Automobile Association has welcomed the investigation into the appointment of French technology company Idemia, to produce the country’s new smart driving licence cards. Earlier this week, the Department of Transport appointed Idemia as the preferred bidder over four other companies. The association’s spokesperson, Layton Beard, says the probe will be included in the Auditor-General’s audit of the procurement process for the new licences after they raised concerns over the company’s appointment:

# Soccer: Portugal’s captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, scored the 900th goal of his career in his country’s 2-1 UEFA Nations League victory over Croatia in Lisbon. The strike, Ronaldo’s first since June, extended his record haul of international goals to 131. The 39-year-old has also contributed at club level for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and current club Al-Nassr. He converted the most goals for Madrid, where in nine years at the Spanish giants he achieved 450 goals in just 438 games.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-72-cents and the euro at 19-rand-69-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-34-cents and Bitcoin trades at 55-thousand-759-dollars-51-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-517-dollars-50-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-79-cents a barrel.

# And, finally: Madrid is following a decision by other world cities Paris, Montreal and Melbourne to ban all rental e-scooters from October because of the risk they pose to pedestrians. For fans, e-scooters are a transport revolution, allowing commuters to zip around crowded cities with ease and at minimal cost. For detractors, they are injury-inducing street litter and a hipsters’ plague on peaceful pedestrians. In just two decades, electric scooters have grown into a worldwide market worth tens of billions of dollar a year.

Stay tuned for more news………….