News 08:00

BULLETIN 30 August 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Godongwana warns against the hasty withdrawals of pension funds
# Ramaphosa says his promise to build one million houses in Alexandra was misinterpreted
# And Kamala Harris says her values have not changed despite policy reversals

# Finance minister Enoch Godongwana has warned against hasty withdrawals of pension funds as part of the two-pot retirement system, which comes into effect on the first of September. The system allows retirement fund members to access savings without resigning or cashing out pension funds entirely. Godongwana says he is unfazed about those complaining about taxing the withdrawals:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Health has stressed the importance of ensuring that the implementation of National Health Insurance, does not lead to further monopolisation of healthcare services. The committee was briefed by the Competition Commission on its Health Market Inquiry Report, which investigates the state of competition in the South African healthcare sector. The committee says the role of the private sector within the NHI framework is important, but there needs to be a balance between contributions from private healthcare providers while also maintaining a robust public healthcare system.

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has apologised to the people of Alexandra township in Gauteng, for creating an impression that his government would build them one-million houses, back in 2019. During his question and answer session in Parliament yesterday, the president said he was referring to the whole of South Africa to build one million houses. Ramaphosa says 40-thousand houses were being built for Alexandra residents, and the more vulnerable will be relocated to the nearby Frankenwald and Linksfield first:

# US vice-president Kamala Harris says on her first day in office if elected president, she would start implementing several of her policy proposals to support and strengthen the middle class. She sat down with CNN for her first interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. She was interviewed alongside her running mate governor Tim Walz. Harris pushed back against the assertion that her policy positions on fracking and decriminalising illegal border crossings have changed:

# Paralympic Games: Concerns about the River Seine’s water quality due to stormy weather, have prompted a change to the schedule of the swimming leg of the Paralympic triathlon in Paris. The swimming part of the event will take place on Sunday, instead of over two days. At the Olympic Games, triathlon events and training sessions were subjected to some reshuffling as adverse weather conditions led to a spike in bacteria levels in the Seine. Organisers say this decision gives athletes and coaches as much certainty as possible.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-75-cents and the euro at 19-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-37-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-999-dollars-26-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-514-dollars-49-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-89-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….