News 17:00

BULLETIN 16 October 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The financial watchdog fines a VBS-accused three-million-rand for giving minister Thembi Simelane a loan
# The Gauteng Health Department faces an employee budget shortfall of more than 500-million-rand
# And SA Rugby bows to pressure and postpones a special general meeting on a private equity investment

# The Financial Sector Conduct Authority has fined VBS Mutual Bank accused, Ralliom Razwinane, three-million-rand and banned him from financial services for ten-years. Razwinane allegedly loaned Justice minister Thembi Simelane money for a coffee shop shortly after advising the Polokwane municipality to invest in VBS. The financial watchdog found Razwinane’s company, Gundo Wealth, failed to provide honest financial services and profited improperly from municipal investments.

# The Gauteng Health Department says it’s focusing on filling critical job vacancies despite budget challenges. The department is grappling with a 500-million-rand shortfall in its employee budget. This shortfall, caused by the underfunded salary agreement from last year, has placed a significant strain on the department’s resources. Spokesperson Motalatale Modiba says the department continues to engage with stakeholders to address these budgetary challenges: 

# A fuel tanker explosion in northern Nigeria has killed at least 94 people and left 50 injured. A police spokesperson told AFP many of the victims had been trying to collect fuel spilt on the road after the tanker crashed in northern Jigawa state. Hundreds of people have been killed in tanker accidents in various parts of Nigeria. In some of the cases, the majority of the victims are people who gather around the tanker to scoop fuel before a major explosion occurs.

# SA Rugby has postponed a planned special general meeting to consider a proposal to conclude a private equity investment in the sport’s commercial rights at the request of minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie. The meeting was scheduled to take place in Cape Town tomorrow, but will now be rescheduled at McKenzie’s request to more fully brief government on the proposal. The major unions oppose the deal with a US-based company and want to submit their own proposal.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-61-cents and the euro at 19-rand-18-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-754-dollars-16-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-682-dollars-38-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-27-cents a barrel.

# And finally: AfriForum has called for the celebration of Afrikaans and other indigenous languages in commemoration of International Dictionary Day today. This comes as the organisation plans to protest against the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act. AfriForum’s head of cultural affairs, Alana Bailey, highlights the importance of preserving mother-language education, warning that the Bela Act could threaten linguistic diversity by promoting English dominance:

Stay tuned for more news………….