News 07:00

BULLETIN 3 September 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA cautiously welcomes a bank loan of 17-billion-rand
# The South African Post Office will today update Parliament on its business rescue plan
# And cricket: Wanderers will again host the final of the SA20 next year

# ActionSA has cautiously welcomed the New Development Bank’s 17-billion-rand loan for water and sanitation infrastructure. The party warns it’s merely a temporary fix unless systemic inefficiencies, mismanagement, and poor maintenance are addressed. ActionSA’s Malebo Kobe emphasises that South Africa’s water issues reflect deeper governance failures and calls for a comprehensive overhaul of water resource management:

# Communications and Digital Technologies minister, Solly Malatsi, has removed two board members of the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa. Daphne Kula-Rantho and Boitumelo Mabusela, currently employed as civil servants, failed to obtain approval and provide evidence of permission from their employers to conduct additional remunerative work outside their official roles. Malatsi says to date the two individuals have collected over 1.6-million-rand in board fees which they were not legally entitled to:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Communications and Digital Technologies is set to be briefed by the South African Post Office today. This is over the progress made by the business rescue practitioners in implementing a business rescue plan. In July last year, a court granted the government’s application to put the Post Office in business rescue. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies is also expected to brief the committee on KPMG’s forensic report on the Postbank’s 89.5-million-rand fraudulent transactions.

# The EFF in Tshwane says it is aggrieved to learn that the man who is suspected of killing its member, Lebogang Mafa, in Soshanguve is Wisani Collen Shitimba. Mafa was shot dead inside her home at the weekend. The party says Shitimba, who made his first court appearance yesterday, is a well-known criminal, notorious for his reckless behaviour and repeated offences. The EFF says the failure to keep such a notorious criminal off the streets is a severe indictment of the justice system and its inability to protect citizens.

# The UK has immediately suspended 30 of roughly 350 arms export licences to Israel. This follows its review of Israel’s compliance with international humanitarian law in the course of its military operations in Gaza. The exports include equipment intended for use in the war in Gaza, such as components for military jets, helicopters, and drones. Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, says Israel’s actions in Gaza continue to lead to immense loss of civilian life, widespread destruction to civilian infrastructure, and immense suffering:

# Cricket: The Wanderers in Johannesburg will again host the final of the SA20 next year. It will be played in the Bullring on the eighth of February. The third season will kick off at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on 9 January, when two-time champions, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, will host M-I Cape Town, who boasts the services of England captain Ben Stokes. SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith says season three is set to be bigger and better, and promises an action-packed summer of cricket.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-82-cents and the euro at 19-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-43-cents and Bitcoin trades at 59-thousand-589-dollars-66-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-494-dollars-80-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-40-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….