News 09:00

BULLETIN 16 September 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA urges the Electoral Court to oppose the ANC’s case
# COSATU’s 15th National Congress collapses after two days
# And, the Parliamentary Police Committee is concerned about the Ekurhuleni murders

# The DA says the ANC’s internal operational failures should not be excused for the party to be allowed to bend the rules of candidate submission for the November local government elections. At least 181 ANC candidate names were not captured and uploaded on the IEC system before the deadline of the 28th of August. The party blamed a technical glitch with the system. The DA’s legal team argued before the Electoral Court that all parties were equally subject to the IEC’s timeline, and all were well aware of the deadline.

# The Congress of South African Trade Unions 15th National Congress has collapsed after it was adjourned on its second day in Midrand, Johannesburg, on Tuesday evening. At the centre of the chaos was disputed credentials, the legal standing of the union federation’s first deputy president Mike Shingange and whether the congress is proceeding lawfully. ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe says COSATU must be given the space to resolve its internal differences:

# Parliament’s Police Committee says the murders of eight women in Ekurhuleni speak to South Africa’s much broader struggle with gender-based violence and femicide. The eight bodies were discovered in and around Kempton Park over two months. Police have already established a multidisciplinary team involving specialist detectives, forensic experts, tracking capability, K9 resources and investigative psychology. Committee chairperson Ian Cameron has appealed to anyone who may know something to come forward:

# OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the world should trust artificial intelligence companies to do the right thing because they feel the magnitude of acting responsibly. There have been growing concerns recently about the technology’s potential risks, with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calling for the pace of all AI development to slow down and urging governments to regulate the industry. Speaking at a conference in San Francisco, Altman acknowledged that people have good reason to fear the risks posed by artificial intelligence:

# Cricket: Australia’s Test team returns to South Africa next month for the first time since the infamous Sandpapergate scandal of the 2017/18 season, and former Proteas captain Graeme Smith says they must brace themselves for reminders. Captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and bowler Cameron Bancroft were sanctioned for roughing the ball with sandpaper during the third Test in Cape Town, which South Africa eventually won by 322 runs. Graeme Smith says Australia cannot hide from its history.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-22-cents and the euro at 18-rand-72-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-87-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 75-thousand-930-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-326-dollars-40-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 109-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….