News 07:00

BULLETIN 18 September 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Two former SA Tourism board members want to sue minister De Lille
# Minister Creecy sets a year-end deadline for the Rail Network
# And Commonwealth Games: Glasgow is the host in 2026

# Former SA Tourism board chairperson, Makhosazana Khanyile, and former deputy chairperson, Lizelle Haskins, have instructed their lawyers to launch legal proceedings against Tourism minister Patricia de Lille for defamation. The minister publicly accused the two of holding excessive board meetings between March and September this year, which cost nearly one-million-rand. They resigned last week after De Lille removed them from their leadership positions on the board. In a joint statement, Khanyile and Haskins say the minister’s assertion that the meetings were excessive was false and defamatory.

# General Industries union Giwusa has rejected claims that raising the national minimum wage would harm job creation and security. The union argues local and international research shows that wage hikes can boost productivity, reduce employee turnover, and stimulate economic growth by increasing household consumption. Giwusa president Mametlwe Sebei is calling for a liveable wage of 15-thousand-rand, stating that fair wages help reduce poverty and income inequality while also benefiting businesses: 

# Transport minister Barbara Creecy has set a year-end deadline for the release of a final Rail Network Statement to attract private operators. Speaking at the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa conference, Creecy highlighted the government’s push for private sector participation to boost rail volumes, port efficiency, and economic growth. She emphasised the complex balancing act between keeping tariffs attractive for third parties and meeting Transnet’s revenue needs.

# The EFF has condemned the Gauteng Health Department’s 25-billion-rand irregular expenditure over the past three years. According to the party, significant issues include improper spending on security tenders, high medical negligence costs, and failure to complete crucial hospital renovations. The EFF‘s Dumisani Baleni calls for urgent action to address corruption and mismanagement, which is worsening the province’s public health crisis: 

# A US court has rejected former British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal against her sex trafficking conviction. The 62-year-old was found guilty in December 2021 of helping disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022. Three judges described her sentence as procedurally reasonable and also dismissed Maxwell’s claims that she did not have a fair trial. Her legal team says they plan to challenge the ruling at the Supreme Court.

# Commonwealth Games: Glasgow will host a scaled-down version of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, after receiving the necessary funding from the Scottish government. The Australian state of Victoria was originally chosen to stage the multi-sport event but withdrew as host due to rising costs. Scotland’s Health and Sport minister, Neil Gray, says the 2026 Games will be scaled back with fewer venues, and the number of sports reduced from 18 to about ten:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-58-cents and the euro at 19-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-14-cents and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-201-dollars-84-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-570-dollars-88-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-35-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….