News 13:00

BULLETIN 19 September 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa needs to strengthen its defence force
# The DA is calling for the Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke to step aside
# And rugby: It is a big day for Australia’s James Slipper on Saturday

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa needs to strengthen its defence force and invest in getting more weapons for the Department of Defence. Ramaphosa recently announced that Denel will be under the wing of the ministry of Defence and Military Veterans. On a visit to the arms manufacturer, he promised government will continue to support and strengthen Denel so that it can produce weapons:

# The DA says it is concerned by the admission from the Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke that Statistics South Africa is in significant trouble. He told members of Parliament’s standing committee on Appropriations that resignations, a hiring freeze, and budget cuts are crippling the organisation. The DA’s, Darren Bergman, says Maluleke should step aside from his position, having served from 2017 and overseen the questionable Census 2022:

# The United Nations General Assembly has voted 124 to 14 for Israel to end its unlawful presence in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem. The Palestinian-drafted resolution demands Israel ends its presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory within 12 months. The resolution also calls on member states not to sell arms or military equipment to Israel and for a boycott of all Israeli products. Forty-three countries abstained, while Israel, the United States and 12 others voted against the resolution.

# Rugby: James Slipper could surpass George Gregan and become Australia’s most-capped player after being named at replacement loosehead prop for his 140th Test on Saturday. The Wallabies take on the All Blacks in a Rugby Championship match in Sydney, which doubles as the first of two Bledisloe Cup Tests. Australia goes into the match on the back of a record 67-27 loss to Argentina. They last held the Bledisloe Cup in 2002.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-44-cents and the euro at 19-rand-48-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-17-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-98-dollars-78-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-587-dollars-38-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-56-cents a barrel

# And finally: An electric motorcycle, designed and built in Africa and powered only by the sun, will tackle the long drive from Nairobi, Kenya, to Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape, next month. Stellenbosch University researchers have joined forces with Roam, a technology-driven electric mobility company in Nairobi to test the Roam Air. It will be covering approximately six-thousand kilometres with only solar power as an energy source. The motorcycle will be ridden by PhD candidate and co-researcher on the project, Stephan Lacock, and Roam’s Masa Kituyi.

Stay tuned for more news………….