News 07:00

BULLETIN 12 August 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# John Steenhuisen says the ANC’s decision to broaden the GNU is counterproductive
# Manufacturing production has surged by two-percent in June
# And the European Parliament says no peace can be negotiated without Ukraine

# DA leader John Steenhuisen has criticised the ANC’s plan to expand the government of national unity and include more political parties, saying this is counterproductive. Last week, the ANC’s National Executive Committee resolved to invite more parties to join the coalition pact, as a strategy to strengthen the unity government. Steenhuisen says they have yet to be briefed on the decision as per the statement of intent:

# Collen Mashawana Foundation chair, Collen Mashawana has denied involvement in building suspended Independent Development Trust CEO Tebogo Malaka’s luxury house. A Daily Maverick report implicates Luande Mukhethwa Properties, linked to Mashawana, in payments to a contractor on the project. The company says the transactions were routine, with no knowledge of Malaka’s link. Attention also turned to Mashawana’s foundation after receiving funding to implement Expanded Public Works Programme initiatives. The foundation allegedly made payments toward the property while the IDT transferred over 23-million-rand to his foundation.

# Statistics South Africa says manufacturing production rose by two-percent in June compared with the same month last year, driven mainly by growth in food and beverages and petroleum-related products. Stats SA’s Nicolai Claassen says seasonally adjusted sales climbed two-percent in June from May, with sales for the past three months rising by one-percent, driven by food, beverages, and motor vehicle sales:

# The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union in the Western Cape warns that keeping teacher numbers the same for next year will cause more strain on schools. With over 35-thousand teachers and large class sizes, schools will face increased pressure on their budgets and resources. The union’s provincial secretary, Sibongile Kwazi, says more teachers could have been hired if the annual systemic evaluations and the back-on-track programmes were reviewed.

# Members of the European Parliament say no peace can be negotiated without the full participation of Ukraine’s democratically elected leadership and the backing of its people. This comes as US president Donald Trump is set to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Friday, a step aimed at achieving a ceasefire. Members of the European Parliament emphasise that any arrangement on terms dictated by Russia or that would reward its war of aggression against Ukraine would gravely endanger the security of the European continent. 

# Soccer: South Africa registered their first win in Group C with a 2-1 victory over Guinea in the African Nations Championship in Kampala. Bafana Bafana opened the scoring in the tenth minute through captain Neo Maema. Guinea equalised through Moussa Camara before halftime. In the 54th minute, Wayde Jooste set up man-of-the-match Thabiso Kutumela for South Africa’s second goal. This victory follows Bafana Bafana’s 1-1 draw against Algeria in their opening match.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-73-cents and the euro at 20-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-81-cents and Bitcoin trades at 119-thousand-19-dollar. Gold sells at three-thousand-349-dollars-94-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-29-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….