News 08:00

BULLETIN 12 September 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The leaders of the government of national unity take stock
# Minister De Lille is going to probe the excessive meetings of the Tourism Board
# And night vigils are held for Pravin Gordhan

# President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted a dinner meeting with all the political leaders of parties that are signatories to the Government of National Unity in Pretoria yesterday evening. The gathering provided an opportunity for a review of the functioning of the government, and for the leaders to offer their assessments and raise issues of concern. The presidency says Ramaphosa has referred to the government of national unity as an opportunity for political parties and citizens to work together with a greater purpose to ensure an inclusive country for all.

# Tourism minister Patricia de Lille says she will launch an investigation into the excessive amount of meetings held by the South African Tourism board and the cost thereof. Close to 900-thousand-rand of the 1.44-million-rand has been accrued by the board for 54 meetings from March until the first week of this month. The minister has subsequently removed the board chairperson Makhosazana Khanyile and her deputy, Lizelle Dominique-Jordaan. De Lille told the SABC that the two will retain their positions as ordinary board members:

# The Information Regulator has issued enforcement notices to the Electoral Commission, WhatsApp, and Lancet Laboratories for Protection of Personal Information Act breaches. The IEC lacked adequate data protection measures, WhatsApp was found to have inconsistent privacy safeguards, and Lancet failed to notify affected individuals of breaches. The regulator’s chairperson Pansy Tlakula, warned of possible fines or imprisonment for non-compliance and is investigating complaints against X, Meta, and Google related to South Africa’s elections:

# Tennis: Defending champions Italy beat Brazil two-one in their opening Group A tie of the Davis Cup Finals group stage in Bologna. Matteo Berrettini and Matteo Arnaldi won their singles matches, while Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo won the doubles for Brazil. Having missed out on last year’s Davis Cup Finals knockout stage, Spain got past the Czech Republic two-nil in Valencia. The US, which has a leading 32 Davis Cup titles but none since 2007, fended off Chile three-nil in Zhuhai.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-90-cents and the euro at 19-rand-72-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-35-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-238-dollars-59-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-514-dollars-18-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-98-cents a barrel.

# And, candlelit vigils were held for former Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan at Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg and the Heritage Centre in Durban yesterday evening. The former minister is currently in hospital with an undisclosed illness. He retired from politics in May, saying he wanted to focus on his health. Ahmed Kathrada Foundation’s executive director, Neeshan Balton, says while many have mixed views about Gordhan’s legacy in government, his anti-corruption legacy is indisputable:

Stay tuned for more news………….