News 06:00

BULLETIN 20 August 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Manamela appoints administrators to stabilise SETAs
# Three DA members of Parliament escape an attempted robbery
# And, Donald Trump rules out the deployment of US troops to Ukraine

# The Higher Education and Training Department has appointed new administrators to stabilise struggling SETAs. Matjie Masoga will head the Services SETA, Dithabe Nkoane the Construction SETA, and Zukile Mvalo the Local Government SETA. Minister Buti Manamela says entrenched governance failures, including procurement irregularities and board instability, undermined their mandate. Spokesperson Matshepo Seedat says the administrators must restore governance, enforce accountability, and ensure programmes continue supporting learners and workers:

# The Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation has dismissed reports that it withdrew from the National Dialogue, clarifying it was never formally part of the convention. The foundation says the former president could not attend the 15-to 16 August event at UNISA due to prior commitments but expressed support for its objectives. Motlanthe has stressed the importance of inclusive nation-building, with a focus on youth programmes in digital skills and education.

# Parliament’s portfolio committee of Police chairperson Ian Cameron and two of his DA colleagues were victims of a smash and grab in Phillipi, Cape Town, on Tuesday. Cameron, Lisa Schickerling, and Nicholas Gotsell were returning from an oversight visit to the police training college in Philippi when the vehicle they were travelling in was hit with bricks by suspected smash-and-grabbers. The DA’s George Michalakis says Gotsell had to be hospitalised, but is not in a critical condition:

# The South African National Taxi Council says it will transport the body of e-hailing driver Siyanda Mthokozisi to KwaZulu-Natal for burial. Mthokozisi was shot outside Maponya Mall in Soweto, in Gauteng, last week, in what is suspected to be linked to tensions between e-hailing drivers and taxi operators. Santaco president Abnar Tsebe extended condolences to the family, emphasising that the taxi industry will not condone any form of criminal activity:

# US president Donald Trump has ruled out sending US troops to Ukraine to help enforce a peace deal. This comes after Monday’s talks between Trump, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and European leaders at the White House. In an interview with Fox News, Trump said he still believes European countries are the first line of defence when it comes to Russian aggression in Ukraine. He also warned that Russian president Vladimir Putin would face a rough situation if he didn’t cooperate in the peace process.

# Rugby: The final of the Women’s World Cup will be played at a sold-out Twickenham in London on 27 September. All 82-thousand tickets have already been sold, as well as 375-thousand of the available 470-thousand tickets for all matches. The chairperson of the tournament, Gill Whitehead, says they believe the final will be the most attended women’s match in history. Hostesses England and the United States kick off the tournament on Friday, with South Africa playing their first group match against Brazil on Sunday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-69-cents and the euro at 20-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 112-thousand-915-dollar. Gold sells at three-thousand-315-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-47-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….