News 13:00

BULLETIN 25 August 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# BOSA calls on Barney Pityana to come clean on what he knows about the Lottery tender scandal
# Minister Dion George warns of harsh penalties for non-compliance for offshore fuel transfers
# And rugby: Rassie Erasmus sticks to the players that faced Australia to do the job against the All Blacks

# BOSA is concerned about the sudden resignation of National Lotteries Commission Chairperson, Barney Pityana. Spokesperson Roger Solomons says South Africans deserve clarity on whether Pityana’s resignation is linked to the controversial Lottery tender process that has already undermined public confidence in the commission:

# ANC veteran and former minister Naledi Pandor says the party has lost its glory and has forgotten that it exists to serve the people. She spoke at the Gertrude Shope Memorial lecture in Pretoria on Sunday. Shope died in May this year at the age of 99. Pandor said citizens are looking at the ANC with disdain, horror and shame. She added that the party can still renew itself and arrest the decline by appointing the right leaders:

# Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dion George, says the new regulations to control offshore ship-to-ship fuel transfers in South African waters are a decisive step to safeguard the oceans. The regulations introduce a risk-based system to prevent and reduce the harm that offshore ship-to-ship transfers, including bunkering, can cause to marine and coastal ecosystems. George says non-compliance will be met with firm penalties, including fines of up to two-million-rand and imprisonment for up to five years, or both.

# The South African Social Security Agency says it will commence with a new mandatory digital beneficiary biometric enrolment in all its offices across the country from the first of September. This aims to secure grant payments, improve the integrity of the social grant system, and mitigate fraud linked to suspected deceased or inactive accounts. Sassa’s spokesperson, Andile Tshona, says this biometric system will revolutionise the administration of social grants:

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus stuck to the players who did duty in their opening two Rugby Championship matches against Australia for next month’s tour to New Zealand. With wingers Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe injured, Makazole Mapimpi will make the trip down under. The only forward that faced Australia to miss out on selection was Cobus Wiese, who has been placed on standby. His brother, Jasper, is still serving a suspension and will only be eligible for the second encounter in Wellington.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-53-cents and the euro at 20-rand-51-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-66-cents and Bitcoin trades at 111-thousand-534-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-362-dollars-2-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-38-cents a barrel. 

Stay tuned for more news………….