News 08:00

BULLETIN 21 August 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Parliament welcomes the dissolution of the SA Tourism board
# Twenty-two high school learners are suspended following violent altercations in Roodepoort
# And athletics: Simbine and Sekgodiso disappoint at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne

# Parliament’s Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade has welcomed Tourism minister Patricia de Lille’s decision to dissolve the SA Tourism board with immediate effect. According to the minister, the board exceeded its powers by appointing a board member to carry out some of the functions of the previous chairperson, professor Gregory Davids, who resigned in July. She described this as unlawful. Committee chairperson Sonja Boshoff says that when such decisions are made, they should always be aimed at improving governance within government entities.

# Solidarity says deputy president Paul Mashatile’s latest defence of black economic empowerment is completely removed from the reality of what BEE is and does. In response to a parliamentary question, Mashatile defended the country’s transformation policies, declaring that the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act is not discriminatory legislation. Solidarity’s Theuns du Buisson says Mashatile is dishonest about the true objectives of transformation legislation:

# The Gauteng Education Department has confirmed that 19 learners from West Ridge High School and three from Hoërskool Roodepoort have been suspended. This comes after learners from the two schools were involved in violent altercations last Friday and again on Monday, leaving three pupils injured and the Hoërskool Roodepoort principal stabbed. The department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, says the suspended learners will undergo disciplinary hearings:

# The US State Department has announced new sanctions on four International Criminal Court officials, including two judges and two prosecutors. The department claims the officials have been instrumental in efforts to prosecute Americans and Israelis. Any assets that the officials hold in US jurisdictions are now frozen. The new penalties target judges Kimberly Prost and Nicolas Guillou, as well as prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan and Mame Mandiaye Niang. Guillou oversaw a pre-trial panel that issued the arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

# Athletics: Jamaica’s Oblique Seville claimed gold in the men’s 100-metres at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. He clocked an impressive time of 9.87-seconds. Olympic champion American Noah Lyles came in second, with Jamaican Ackeem Blake and South African Akani Simbine finishing third and fourth, respectively. England’s Keely Hodgkinson clinched the women’s 800-metres in a meeting record of one-minute-55.69-seconds, while South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso finished sixth. American Josh Hoey won the men’s 800-metres in one-minute-42.82-second ahead of Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Spain’s Mohamed Attaoui.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-69-cents and the euro at 20-rand-61-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-80-cents and Bitcoin trades at 114-thousand-277-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-343-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-56-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….