News 13:00

BULLETIN 19 September 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi tells the Madlanga commission Brown Mogotsi warned him of a plot to discredit him
# SAFTU rejects the Reserve Bank’s decision to leave the repo rate unchanged
# And Rugby: SA’s Barrett-Theron and New Zealand’s Cogger-Orr to take charge of the Women’s World Cup semifinals

# On day three of the Madlanga commission of inquiry, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi testified that he was warned of a plot to discredit him. Mkhwanazi said businessman Brown Mogotsi, whom he believes has links to the criminal underworld, sent him WhatsApp messages in September last year containing confidential police documents. He told the commission the leaks raised questions about Mogotsi’s close ties to senior police officials and Police minister Senzo Mchunu:

# SAFTU says it rejects the South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee’s decision to once again leave the repo rate unchanged at 7-percent as anti-worker and anti-development. SAFTU’s spokesperson, Asive Dyani says this keeps the prime lending rate at a suffocating 10.5-percent. She says the decision is yet another indication that the MPC prioritises inflation targeting in the narrow interests of bankers and speculators over the urgent national priorities of economic growth:

# President Donald Trump, who recently accused Xi Jinping of working to “conspire” against the United States, hopes to finalise the fate of video-sharing app TikTok and make progress on trade talks in a phone call with the Chinese leader today. The call will be the second between the two men since Trump returned to the White House in January. In June Xi invited Trump to visit China. Several analysts expect Xi to repeat his offer, especially knowing that Trump is always keen to be received with diplomatic fanfare.

# Rugby: South Africa’s Aimee Barrett-Theron will take charge of the first Women’s Rugby World Cup semifinal between defending champions New Zealand and Canada at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol, England, tonight. This will be the 49th Test in the middle for Barrett-Theron and a record 12th Women’s World Cup match as a referee. New Zealand’s Maggie Cogger-Orr will referee the second semifinal, between France and hosts England, tomorrow. World Rugby Match Officials Committee chairperson, Su Carty, says Barrett-Theron and Cogger-Orr will represent match officials with pride and distinction.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-34-cents and the euro at 20-rand-41-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-43-cents and Bitcoin trades at 116-thousand-884-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-656-dollars-25-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-58-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Depopulated towns in Germany’s ex-communist east have come up with a novel scheme to bring back life: offering people several weeks of super-cheap housing to give would-be residents a taste of the place. The “trial-living” scheme aims to revitalise half-deserted communities as Germany nears the 35th anniversary of its reunification on 3 October. One of these towns, is the small town of Guben on the Polish border. Potential residents pay just 2-thousand-rand in weekly rent for a maximum of four weeks, with a view to settling there.

Stay tuned for more news………….