News 08:00

BULLETIN 6 August 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Reserve Bank governor says state capture is to blame for South Africa’s slow economic growth
# Parliament calls for urgent action to strengthen South Africa’s response to foot and mouth disease
# And, Zelensky reiterates his call for more air defence systems after a  deadly Russian attack

# South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago says the country’s economy is growing at a slow rate despite adopting the right macroeconomic policies, due to years of state capture. The country’s gross domestic product grew by 1.1-percent last year, while National Treasury had expected a 1.4-percent growth. In the first quarter of this year, the economy grew by 0.5-percent. Speaking at a public lecture at UNISA in Pretoria, Kganyago says to break from stagnant growth, South Africa needs to try risky things:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Agriculture is calling for urgent measures to address structural weaknesses that continue to undermine South Africa’s ability to contain and ultimately eradicate foot-and-mouth disease. South Africa has imported 17 million vaccine doses as part of the national disease-control strategy. The committee says inadequate funding remains one of the greatest obstacles to effective disease control. It adds that sustainable funding must become a national priority if the country is to restore its animal health status, safeguard food security and protect export markets.

# Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Lebogang Maile, says parents and guardians continue to have confidence in the province’s online admissions system. The department recorded a strong start to its 2027 online admissions application period, receiving more than 210-thousand Grade 1 and Grade 8 applications within the first four hours of the system going live yesterday. Maile says applying early allows sufficient time to resolve any outstanding matters and improve the likelihood of a seamless placement process:

# Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated his call to allies to provide the military hardware required to down Russian missiles. At least 17 people were killed in Kyiv and surrounding areas yesterday, as Moscow fired more than two dozen ballistic and anti-ship missiles. Russia reportedly fired 115 drones and 24 ballistic missiles, and Kyiv’s depleted air defences did not intercept any of the missiles. Zelensky says partners who are not ready to help more actively with the supply of interceptors right now can help by imposing new sanctions on Moscow.

# Netball: The National Netball Championships, South Africa’s largest annual inter-district tournament, kicks off at Stellenberg High School in Cape Town today. The championships will feature 122 teams, comprising 58 senior district sides and 64 under-21 teams, with almost one-thousand-900 players converging for six days of competition. Defending champions Johannesburg will be chasing a fifth consecutive national title. Netball South Africa president Mami Diale says this tournament has been a valuable platform for university clubs and coaches to discover untapped talent:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-32-cents and the euro at 18-rand-85-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-98-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-499-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-279-dollars-93-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-98-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….