News 08:00

BULLETIN 20 August 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Lamola says the strengthening of trade with Japan is important
# My Votes Counts says president Ramaphosa’s political funding shake-up increases secrecy
# And Israel has not yet accepted the new 60-day Gaza ceasefire proposal

# Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, says South Africa and Africa must strengthen trade and investment ties with Japan. The minister and four others have accompanied president Cyril Ramaphosa to the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development Summit. Japan is one of the major investors, pumping over 90-billion-rand into the South African economy, with total bilateral trade between the two countries in 2024 reaching 132-billion-rand. Lamola says potential for further investments exists:

# My Vote Counts warns that president Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent changes to the Political Funding Act increase secrecy and reduce accountability in political donations. Ramaphosa has doubled the annual donation limit to 30-million-rand and raised the disclosure threshold to 200-thousand-rand. The advocacy group’s Joel Bregman argues this will increase the influence of wealthy donors and make political parties more susceptible to corruption.

# The Presiding Officers of Parliament have condemned the violent criminal attack on three DA members of Parliament. Police portfolio committee chairperson, Ian Cameron, Nicholas Gotsell, and Lisa Schickerling, were assaulted while returning from an oversight visit to the police training college in Philippi, Cape Town, on Tuesday. Parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, says the presiding officers are calling on law enforcement authorities to ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous act are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice:

# Israel will deliver its response to international mediators by Friday over a new Gaza ceasefire plan. The proposal, put forward by Qatar and Egypt, will include a suspension of military operations for 60 days, and Hamas’s release of around half of the 50 remaining Israeli hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas has accepted the ceasefire plan. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, says the proposal represents the best possible option to stop the killings in Gaza:

# Tennis: Top seeds Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper are through to the semifinals of the revamped US Open mixed doubles championships. The American/British duo secured two wins, including a first-round, 4-2, 4-2 victory over Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz. They will next face third seeds Casper Ruud and Iga Swiatek. Reigning champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori advanced to the semifinals with two straight-set wins. Americans Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison, who entered the draw following Katerina Siniakova and Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal, also advanced to the last four.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 20-rand-59-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 113-thousand-346-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-316-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-51-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….