News 08:00

BULLETIN 18 December 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Deputy minister Hlengwa says the cost of road crashes is holding back sustainable economic recovery
# South Africa recorded a 300-percent surge in identity fraud in 2024
# And cricket: Pakistan beats South Africa in the first ODI

# Deputy minister of Transport, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, says the effects of road crashes on the economy are certainly debilitating, affecting small and large businesses alike. According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation’s State of Road Safety Report for January 2023 to December 2023, the total cost of road crashes is estimated at an adjusted cost of 205.13-billion-rand. Hlengwa says it is due to these human and economic costs that the government is forced to act with persistence and an unwavering commitment to prevent road crashes.

# The Public Servants Association has urged for more accountability after the Supreme Court of Appeal ordered former Social Development minister, Bathabile Dlamini, to repay two-million-rand for private security services. The court ruled that the South African Social Security Agency’s payment of 3.5-million-rand for the services was unlawful. The association’s Claude Naiker condemned the misuse of power by politicians and called for better controls to prevent wasteful spending of public money:

# South Africa has recorded a 300-percent surge in identity fraud in 2024. The rise was driven by forged IDs, which accounted for 50-percent of global fraud attempts. According to Sumsub’s Identity Fraud Report, fraud across the African continent rose 167-percent, with industries like online media and banking hit hardest. Sumsub highlighted the rise of fraud-as-a-service and organised networks, complicating detection. Experts call for stricter compliance, advanced monitoring, and consumer education to address these growing threats.

# The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, has warned that the conflict has not ended even after the ousting of former president Bashar al-Assad. This follows continuing clashes between the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army rebels and the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Pedersen, who met with Syria’s new de-facto rulers, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, expressed concern about reports of military escalation, saying such an escalation could be catastrophic:

# Cricket: Pakistan defeated South Africa by three wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series in Paarl. The Proteas posted 239 for nine with Heinrich Klaasen scoring 86. In reply, Saim Ayub scored 109 off 119 balls and Agha Salman an unbeaten 82 as the visitors reached the target with three balls to spare. Pakistan takes a one-nil lead in the series, with the second ODI at Newlands tomorrow. Proteas captain Aiden Markram says they did not score enough runs:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-10-cents and the euro at 19-rand. One British pound costs 22-rand-98-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-328-dollars-27-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-644-dollars-35-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-24-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….