News 13:00

BULLETIN 11 September 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Steenhuisen warns Ramaphosa against signing the Bela Bill into law
# Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris for president
# And, soccer: Broos is happy that Bafana won but not satisfied with their performance

# DA leader John Steenhuisen says should president Cyril Ramaphosa sign the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill into law on Friday, he will violate the joint statement of intent that forms the basis of the government of national unity. He says during the negotiations, the DA made it clear the bill in its current form was unacceptable, because it has constitutional implications for the right to mother-tongue education, amongst other issues. Steenhuisen says the bill must be sent back to Parliament for amendments.

Meanwhile, a task team of the Education Labour Relations Council has proposed stricter criteria for appointing school principals, aiming to enhance management quality. Under the new proposal candidates for principal roles must have at least seven years of teaching experience, including three years as a deputy principal, or five years as a departmental head. Currently, a teacher can be promoted to principal without managerial experience. The proposal will be discussed at the council’s meeting on Friday.

# Build One South Africa has asked Transport minister Barbara Creecy for the exit package payments made to former Transnet CEO, Portia Derby, and head of Rail, Sizakele Mzimela, be reversed and cancelled. Derby will receive 11.9-million-rand, while Mzimela will pocket 9.2-million-rand. BOSA’s Roger Solomons says these payments are a slap in the face, particularly for the millions who rely on the failing train and railway services for their daily commutes:

# Pop star Taylor Swift has officially endorsed US vice president Kamala Harris in the race for president. This follows the presidential debate between Harris and former president and Republican nominee, Donald Trump. In an Instagram post, Swift says Harris is a steady-handed, gifted leader, and she believes they can accomplish so much more in America if they are led by calm and not chaos. Swift endorsed the Joe Biden/Harris ticket in 2020.

# Soccer: A goal in stoppage time gave Bafana Bafana a crucial 3-2 win against South Sudan in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Juba. Bafana coach Hugo Broos was not satisfied with the performance and felt that his team could have wrapped up the game in the first half. However, he was happy to walk away with three points from an away game: 

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-87-cents and the euro at 19-rand-74-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-37-cents and Bitcoin trades at 56-thousand-576-dollars-72-cent. Gold sells at two-thousand-523-dollars-23-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-66-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….