News 08:00

BULLETIN 15 September 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ANC councillors are gathering today to discuss the accelerating service delivery
# The trial of the three accused of theft at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm begins today
# And the European Union condemns the Russian drone incursion into Romanian airspace

# The ANC, under the leadership of the national executive committee, will convene all party councillors from across the country in a mandatory roll call session in Johannesburg today. This gathering will serve to review progress, provide guidance, and accelerate service delivery with accountability at the centre of the party’s work. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says one of the key objectives of the roll call is to introduce the Service Delivery and Infrastructure Action Plan adopted by the NEC:

# National Treasury has invoked section 216 of the Constitution, which authorises the withholding of funds from organs of state that breach financial management legislation. This comes as debt owed to the Auditor-General of South Africa by municipalities and state-owned entities reached 1.83-billion-rand at the end of July. This is a significant increase from the 1.35-billion-rand recorded in March. The long-standing defaulters include Denel and the SA Post Office. Treasury says its collaborative monitoring framework with the Auditor-General includes tracking defaults and recommending write-offs for entities in liquidation.

# The trial of the three accused in the theft of millions of Rands in foreign currency at president Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala Farm in Limpopo in 2020, is set to start at the Modimolle Regional Court today. Imanuwela David, Froliana Joseph, and Ndilinasho Joseph are facing charges of conspiracy to commit housebreaking with intent to steal and theft. NPA regional spokesperson, Mashudu Malabi, says accused number one, David, is also facing a charge of money laundering:

# The European Union has condemned Russia’s breach of Romanian airspace. Romania’s Defence Ministry says it detected a Russian drone when two F-16 jets were monitoring the country’s border with Ukraine over the weekend. Last week, Poland shot down at least three Russian drones that had entered its airspace. EU’s Foreign Policy chief, Kaja Kallas, called the incident yet another unacceptable breach of a state’s sovereignty. She notes that this continued reckless escalation poses a threat to regional security.

# Golf: Sweden’s Alex Noren beat France’s Adrien Saddier in a play-off to win his second BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club in England. The pair finished tied on 19-under-par, three shots clear of the rest. Noren, vice-captain for Team Europe, won after he birdied the first extra play-off hole. This is his 12th win on the DP World Tour. England’s Aaron Rai and American Patrick Reed finished tied for third. Noren says it was a proper battle against Saddier:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-38-cents and the euro at 20-rand-37-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-56-cents and Bitcoin trades at 115-thousand-535-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-642-dollars-94-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….