News 07:00

BULLETIN 12 August 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Parliament disputes Fadiel Adams’ claim of a faulty laptop
# Solidarity warns the new BELA rules weaken school governing bodies
# And rugby: The All Blacks demolished the Sharks

# Parliament has disputed National Coloured Congress leader Fadiel Adams’ claim that laptop problems delayed his responses to the Madlanga Commission. He claimed that he had failed to respond to a formal notice from the commission because his Parliament-issued laptop was faulty. The notice required him to answer questions about the criminal complaints he had opened against Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo and other high-ranking officials. Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo says that following Adams’ claims, they reviewed the ICT Service Desk records:

# Trade union Solidarity says three new draft regulations under the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act could reduce the independence of public schools. The union states the regulations give provincial education officials greater control over school governing bodies, teacher development and staff payments. Solidarity’s Johnell Prinsloo says schools need more flexibility to make decisions based on their own needs. Prinsloo added they will submit comments on the regulations, urging parents and school communities to also take part in the public consultation process.

# The Institute of Race Relations urges Parliament to scrap the National Water Amendment Bill, warning it could harm agriculture, weaken the economy and threaten food security. According to the organisation, the bill could discourage investment, slow economic growth and increase unemployment. The institute’s Anthea Jeffery says secure property rights to land and water are essential for successful farming. Jeffery argues the government should focus on supporting more commercial farmers instead of introducing legislation that could undermine the sector.

# Newly appointed North West Police Commissioner, Arthur Adams, says the monitoring of licensed mining sites needs to be strengthened. This comes after 14 suspected illegal miners were found dead and several others injured, following a rockfall, at a disused mine shaft in Nkaneng near Rustenburg yesterday. Adams says police will continue to work with the South African National Defence Force to combat the scourge of illegal mining and fight against illegal mining kingpins:

# The World Health Organisation says it is strengthening its response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Two-thousand-and-11 people have died with four-thousand-381 confirmed cases of the virus. The epicentre of this outbreak of the Bundibugyo species of Ebola is in the east of the DRC, where insecurity has hampered control efforts. WHO’s regional director for Africa, doctor Mohamed Yakub Janabias, says the death toll continues to rise as many people are seeking treatment too late:

# Rugby: The All Blacks thrashed the Sharks 54-0 in wet and cold conditions at Kings Park in Durban, making it back-to-back victories in South Africa following their victory against the Stormers last week. Fehi Fineanganofo scored two of New Zealand’s eight tries, with Jordie Barrett, Damian McKenzie and Caleb Clarke among the try scorers as well. The All Blacks’ next assignment in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour is a clash against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday, before facing the Springboks in the first Test at Ellis Park next weekend.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-18-cents and the euro at 18-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-788-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-396-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-13-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….