News 11:00

BULLETIN 16 September 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Activists and Citizens Forum is demanding the declassification of the Phala Phala report
# Trump files a defamation lawsuit against New York Times
# And cricket: The Proteas Women’s captain highlights the significance of the one-day series against Pakistan

# The Activists and Citizens Forum calls on the Madlanga commission and the Parliamentary ad hoc committee to declassify the top-secret Phala Phala report. In 2020, millions of rand in foreign currency were stolen from president Cyril Ramaphosa’s game farm in Limpopo. The forum argues the classification is an attempt to hide the truth and politicise the investigation. Spokesperson Dennis Bloem insists Ramaphosa, like any citizen, must be held accountable under the Constitution:

# The DA is urging the judicial service commission to urgently attend to complaints of bribery against a judge from the High Court in Johannesburg. Heidelberg businessman and lawyer Bouwe Wiersma has filed a formal complaint with the JSC, claiming that a judge initially requested seven-thousand-rand to grant leave to appeal an eviction order. The amount was later reduced to five-thousand-rand, which Wiersma says he paid. The DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach says a mafia state is characterised by, among others, a captured judiciary:

# The Freedom Front Plus in Gauteng says the ANC and its coalition partners are to blame for Johannesburg’s worsening water crisis. Parts of the metro are continuing to battle with inconsistent water supply and failing reservoirs, with the Alexandra reservoir being one of the hardest-hit facilities. FF Plus’ Franco de Lange says poor planning, backlogged maintenance, and financial mismanagement have left households and businesses without water for weeks. He adds the metro needs to urgently conduct an audit of its infrastructure, prioritise maintenance, and upgrade water systems.

Moving abroad:

# US president Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against New York Times, seeking around 260-billion-rand in damages from the media organisation. He accuses the Times of making false statements about him, his family and his businesses, and being a virtual mouthpiece for the Democratic Party. Trump singled out the Times’ endorsement of former vice president Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of high-profile legal challenges mounted by Trump against major media outlets.

# Cricket: Proteas Women’s captain Laura Wolvaardt says the one-day international series against Pakistan will be perfect preparation for the upcoming World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. The first of three ODIs gets underway in Lahore this afternoon. South Africa holds a dominant record over Pakistan in ODIs, winning 21 of the 28 encounters between the two nations. Wolvaardt says getting to play in the subcontinent before the World Cup is a massive opportunity:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-31-cents and the euro at 20-rand-42-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-61-cents and Bitcoin trades at 115-thousand-774-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-691-dollars-65-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-89-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….