News 07:00

BULLETIN 3 September 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Labour minister expresses concern over job losses at ArcelorMittal and other firms
# 121 KZN political killings task team dockets will be submitted to the Madlanga Commission
# And Rugby: Kolbe says past victories over the All Blacks will count for nothing on Saturday

# Employment and Labour minister, Nomakhosazana Meth has expressed deep concern over the ongoing retrenchments, resulting in heavy job losses. ArcelorMittal plans to shut down its long steel business by the end of this month, which will cut over three-thousand jobs and put another 100-thousand downstream at risk. Ministry spokesperson Thobeka Magcai says Ford has also announced nearly 500 retrenchments at its Pretoria and Gqeberha plants, while Goodyear’s recent closure cost 900 jobs:

# The Department of Social Development Director-General, Peter Netshipale, says the suspension of Communications Director, Lumka Oliphant, is not related to her recent allegations on social media. She alleged that her suspension is because minister Sisisi Tolashe believes she leaked information to the Sunday Times newspaper. The newspaper published an exposé on the department’s lavish three-million-rand spend on sending six delegates to a New York workshop. Netshipale told the SABC that Oliphant is under investigation:

# Acting Police minister, Firoz Cachalia, and National Police Commissioner, Fannie Masemola, have agreed to submit the 121 dockets from the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team to the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. This comes after the two disagreed over the return of case dockets that were taken from the task team. The dockets are central to KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s claims of political interference in high-profile cases. In a joint statement, Cachalia and Masemola said they are focused on tackling political killings and pledged support for the Madlanga Commission.

# Amnesty International has accused the Taliban government in Afghanistan of shrinking the operations of humanitarian and aid agencies in the country due to restrictive policies. These include a ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations in the country. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing one-thousand-400 people and injuring three-thousand. On Tuesday, a fresh magnitude-5.2 aftershock struck the country. Amnesty International says the Taliban de facto authorities must ensure immediate and unimpeded access to all humanitarian organisations, and remove administrative barriers delaying needs assessments.

# Rugby: Springbok wing Cheslin Kolbe says past victories over the All Blacks will count for nothing when they meet in Auckland on Saturday. They will try to become the first Bok team since 1937 to win at Eden Park, while the hosts will defend their undefeated record at the field since 1994. South Africa won their past four encounters, but Kolbe says Saturday’s challenge will be on another level. He believes it will be crucial for the Boks to stay focused on their game plan.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 20-rand-59-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-67-cents and Bitcoin trades at 111-thousand-101-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-541-dollars-93-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-89-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….