News 07:00

BULLETIN 8 September 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC approaches the Electoral Court about the decision on its late candidate lists
# The Defence Force Union warns against the misuse of the money of the soldiers in Cuba
# And rugby: Rassie Erasmus makes two changes for the Baltimore decider

# The ANC has approached the Electoral Court seeking to appeal the IEC’s decision not to reopen candidate list submissions. This follows the party’s claim that “technical glitches” caused it to miss the 28 August deadline to register party candidates in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Free State. The IEC has rejected claims that its system malfunctioned, emphasising that political parties had access to the platform since June. The ANC says the IEC’s decision not to accept the candidate list was based on misrepresentation of the law.

Meanwhile, the Electoral Court has dismissed an urgent application by the newly registered United Democratic Front, which wanted extra time to nominate ward candidates for the local government elections. This is despite missing the 28 August deadline. The UDF argued that after finalising its registration, it had only four days to identify and sign up candidates. The Electoral Court clarified that the Municipal Electoral Act does not grant the IEC the authority to exempt an individual political party from a deadline that remains legally binding on all other participants.

# The South African National Defence Union is calling for an immediate inquiry into reports involving South African National Defence Force members in Cuba. They were allegedly asked to make voluntary payments of up to 15-thousand-rand from their allowances to help needy Cuban citizens. SANDU’s Pikkie Greeff wants an investigation into who authorised the payments, how the money was used and whether soldiers were pressured to contribute:

# The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union says poor infrastructure at Rooigrond Correctional Centre near Mahikeng in North West is putting prison security at risk following the escape of an inmate. The union says the facility has long faced problems including overcrowding, water shortages and damaged infrastructure. Popcru provincial secretary Johannes Dire calls for an urgent investigation, repairs and security assessment, warning correctional officials should not be blamed for wider infrastructure failures:

# The United Nations Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk, has warned that artificial intelligence could become an “existential risk to humanity” if left unchecked. He has raised the prospect of AI systems becoming so powerful that their developers could no longer control them. Türk has also expressed concerns about AI being used in warfare, particularly the development of weapons capable of making lethal decisions without human intervention. He calls on countries to work together to establish clear boundaries:

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has made two changes to his starting team that defeated the All Blacks 29-24 in the third Test in Johannesburg, for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series decider in Baltimore, USA, on Saturday. Damian Willemse replaces the injured Cheslin Kolbe at fullback, and Morné van den Berg starts at scrumhalf. Cobus Reinach moves to the replacements bench. A victory for the Boks at the M&T Bank Stadium would seal a 3-1 series win, while the All Blacks are hoping to share the trophy.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-98-cents and the euro at 18-rand-59-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-64-cents and Bitcoin trades at 79-thousand-322-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-430-dollars-31-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 98-dollars-78-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….