News 16:00

BULLETIN 18 September 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The SA BDS Coalition criticises the peace conference in Johannesburg for whitewashing Israeli war crimes
# BUSA is encouraged by government’s openness over the National Health Insurance Act
# And boxing: Oleksandr Usyk is released after being detained in Poland

# The South African Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Coalition has condemned African Global Dialogue’s peace conference in Johannesburg, accusing it of whitewashing Israeli war crimes. Scheduled from today until Friday, the conference is criticised for normalising the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In a media briefing, the coalition’s Salim Vally argued that the event attempts to justify the massacre of over 40-thousand Palestinians and other abuses while avoiding discussions on genocide and ethnic cleansing: 

# Business Unity South Africa’s leadership says it is encouraged by government’s openness to engage on the substantive concerns raised by companies regarding the National Health Insurance Act. BUSA CEO Cas Coovadia says at president Cyril Ramaphosa’s request, they will prepare a proposal detailing solutions to address the concerns as a basis for further engagement with government. He says BUSA’s primary objective is to render the NHI Act workable, affordable and implementable:

# French-based multinational company, Suez Group, has highlighted the need to transform poorly managed dump sites into green landfills. Speaking at the International Solid Waste Association conference in Cape Town, Waste-to-Energy director, Odile Oberti, emphasised the environmental harm caused by mismanaged sites and proposed a solution. Oberti says redesigning the sites to reduce pollution and recover materials could create jobs and generate green electricity. She points out this approach would benefit communities economically and environmentally, advancing the circular economy and sustainability.

# Boxing: World heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk was released after being detained briefly at Poland’s Krakow airport. The Ukrainian was filmed in handcuffs, surrounded by uniformed officers. President Volodymyr Zelensky was outraged by the attitude of police towards Usyk, and ordered an investigation. Usyk is undefeated and regarded as the world’s best heavyweight, holding the WBC, WBO, and WBA belts. In May, he beat British boxer Tyson Fury to become the first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000.  Usyk is seen as a Ukrainian national hero and inspiration.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-58-cents and the euro at 19-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-23-cents and Bitcoin trades at 59-thousand-866-dollars-3-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-575-dollars-81-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-19-cents a barrel.

# And, the BroadReach Health Development says if everyone who lives with HIV can stay on their medication and get their viral loads undetectable, stopping the spread of HIV sooner is possible. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region most affected by HIV in the world. BroadReach’s Ziyanda Makaba, says the Undetectable = Untransmittable movement aims to reduce the stigma and discrimination for people living with HIV:

Stay tuned for more news………….