News 08:00

BULLETIN 18 August 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Tebogo Malaka claims she was set up over the bribery scandal
# Numsa says the ANC has no solutions for the working class
# And Netanyahu criticises the nationwide protests in Israel

# Suspended Independent Development Trust CEO, Tebogo Malaka, has denied bribery allegations made by Daily Maverick journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh. She and IDT spokesperson Phasha Makgolane were caught on camera offering the journalist a 60-thousand-rand bribe to stop investigating Malaka. Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson has opened a criminal case against the two. Malaka told eNCA that she was set up:

# The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa says the ANC is a capitalist state, designed to protect the property and profits of the dominant minority ruling class. The union says the Marikana massacre would have never happened if the ANC government had been committed to genuinely transforming the country’s economy for the benefit of the working class. Numsa’s spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, says only a Socialist state that cares for the working class can achieve the goal of genuine equality and freedom for all:

# Public Works and Infrastructure minister, Dean Macpherson, has determined that the Matjhabeng Municipality in the Free State did not misappropriate Expanded Public Works Programme funds for 2023/2024 and 2024/2025. This follows an investigation into allegations that the EPWP in the municipality was used to fund inflated salaries for former councillors and sitting political office bearers. The minister froze funding for EPWP projects after the allegations surfaced. Macpherson states that the investigation confirmed that all integrated grant allocations were spent on approved projects.

# Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised Sunday’s protests, saying they would harden Hamas’s stance and would only slow down the release of the hostages. Thousands of Israelis participated in a nationwide protest, with the largest crowd seen in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square. They called for an end to the Gaza war and a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. The protestors also criticised the government’s plans to seize control of Gaza City, saying it risked the lives of the around 20 hostages.

# Motorsport: Six-time MotoGP champion, Marc Márquez, won the Austrian Grand Prix, his first ever victory at the Red Bull Ring. The Ducati rider overtook polesitter Marco Bezzecchi on lap 20 and pulled away for his sixth successive victory of the season. Rookie Fermin Aldeguer finished second with Bezzecchi in third. South Africa’s Brad Binder finished seventh. Márquez, who now has a 142-point lead over his brother Alex in the championship, says he is happy with the win:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-57-cents and the euro at 20-rand-57-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-82-cents and Bitcoin trades at 115-thousand-431-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-346-dollars-9-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-38-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….