News 17:00

BULLETIN 20 August 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Minerals Council pushes for a mining bill that attracts investors
# Cosatu is disappointed by the demise of Mango Airlines
# And rugby: The Boks will start their November tour against Japan at Wembley

# The Minerals Council South Africa says it’s ready to discuss the Mineral Resources Development Bill with the government to encourage investment, growth, and job creation in mining. The council supports transformation in the mining sector, the inclusion of responsible artisanal mining and criminalising illegal mining, but warns parts of the bill could discourage investment. Spokesperson Allan Seccombe says they seek a predictable and competitive framework to sustain and grow the industry.

# Cosatu is disappointed by the news that Mango Airlines will be shutting down. This comes after the investor, who had been waiting for legal and regulatory obstacles to be withdrawn, pulled out of the purchase process. Mango was placed in voluntary business rescue in July 2021, and the business rescue practitioners were appointed in August of that year. Cosatu’s spokesperson, Zanele Sabela, says most disheartening is the 501 retrenched workers who will never get their jobs back:

# The Forum for South Africa is deeply concerned by recent revelations that a delegation from the Transport Department undertook a trip to France, especially since nearly 600-thousand South Africans are still waiting for their driver’s licence cards. The forum’s leader, Tebogo Mashilompane, says this scandal comes at a time when ordinary South Africans are experiencing hardship due to the licence card backlog:

# Rugby: The Springboks will start their November tour of Europe with a historic Test against Japan at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium on 1 November. This will be the first rugby match at the famous soccer venue since 2016, when the Boks and the Barbarians played to a thrilling 31-all draw. The Boks won their last two encounters against Japan, both in 2019, following the ‘Miracle of Brighton’ in 2015, which saw the Brave Blossoms claim a 34-32 victory in the opening game of the World Cup.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 20-rand-65-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-87-cents and Bitcoin trades at 113-thousand-270-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-342-dollars-66-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-2-cents a barrel. 

# And finally: Japanese technicians at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant have sent in remote-controlled robots to one of the damaged reactor buildings as part of preparations to remove radioactive debris. Dangerously high radiation levels mean that removing melted fuel and other debris from the plant hit by a huge tsunami is seen as the most daunting challenge in the decades-long decommissioning project. Around 880 tonnes of hazardous material remain inside the power station, the site of one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents after a tsunami triggered by a 9-magnitude earthquake in 2011.

Stay tuned for more news………….