News 07:00

BULLETIN 19 September 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard refutes Mkhwanazi’s allegations against her
# The cabinet approves the draft National Entrepreneurship Strategy
# And, Ukraine receives thousands of bodies of fallen soldiers

# The DA member of Parliament, Dianne Kohler Barnard, has refuted the allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, against her. Testifying at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry yesterday, Mkhwanazi claimed Kohler Barnard and National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams interfered in intelligence operations for political gain. He accused Kohler Barnard of being involved in a criminal syndicate and using her position to fuel public attacks against the Crime Intelligence Unit. Kohler Barnard says the allegations are outrageous, defamatory, and baseless:

# Cabinet has approved the release of the draft National Entrepreneurship Strategy and Implementation Plan for public comment. Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says the strategy focuses on promoting youth and historically disadvantaged businesses by strengthening Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. It outlines entrepreneurship education, technology exchange, access to finance and markets, regulatory reform, and networking:

# The High Court in Pretoria has granted the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit a final forfeiture order against a company linked to notorious diamond dealer, Louis Liebenberg, and his wife, Desiree’s fraudulent investment scheme. The order pertains to proceeds from unlawful activities held in a Standard Bank account under the name of the ZencoCare company. The sole director of ZencoCare is Desiree Liebenberg. The couple is implicated in an unlawful investment scheme that lured people, locally and abroad, to invest in diamond parcels.

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Defence and Military Veterans has welcomed the arrest of five members of the South African National Defence Force and two foreign nationals in Musina, Limpopo. They were arrested after allegedly attempting to intercept smugglers in an unauthorised operation that led to the concealment of illicit cigarettes at a military base. The SANDF members have been granted bail of five-thousand-rand, while their two Zimbabwean co-accused were denied bail and remanded in custody. The committee says the SANDF members have no place in the defence force.

# Ukraine received a thousand bodies from Russia that Moscow said were of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. A government body that provides information on Russian prisoners of war and missing Russian soldiers says Ukraine returned the bodies of 24 Russian soldiers in exchange. The repatriation of soldiers’ bodies and the exchange of prisoners-of-war are some of the only areas of cooperation between Ukraine and Russia amid the war. Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia invaded in 2022, though neither side regularly publishes data on their own casualties.

# Golf: Young South African stars Benjamin van Wyk and Tyran Snyders are part of a five-way tie for the lead, after the second round of the Sunbet Challenge at the Umhlali Country Club in KwaZulu-Natal. They share the lead on six-under-par with compatriots Jaco Prinsloo, Louis Albertse, and Pieter Moolman. The five are one stroke clear of the field. Snyders says it’s going to be a thrilling final round today:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-35-cents and the euro at 20-rand-44-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-49-cents and Bitcoin trades at 117-thousand-325-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-639-dollars-39-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-7-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….