News 09:00

BULLETIN 11 August 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa meets with Daniel Perez’s family after the release of his remains by Hamas
# Colombia declares a state of national disaster
# And tennis: Swiatek and Svitolina are through to the Canadian Open semifinals

# The Presidency has confirmed that president Cyril Ramaphosa has met with the family of the late South African‑born Captain Daniel Perez, following the intervention by government in facilitating the release of his remains by militant group Hamas. Perez was taken hostage and killed by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says the president has affirmed South Africa’s support for an all-inclusive peace process that will deliver a lasting peace for the people of Israel and Palestine:

# Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, says his department has recorded a 61-percent reduction in working hours lost to system downtime, marking a significant improvement in the reliability of services. Total working time lost to “system offline” incidents dropped from 35-thousand-426 hours in 2024/2025 to 13-thousand-867 hours in 2025/2-26. Schreiber says the improvement can be attributed to a series of digital reforms aimed at modernising the department’s technology infrastructure and improving service delivery:

# The United Democratic Movement in the Western Cape says it has repeatedly warned about the proliferation of illegal firearms and the criminal networks that sustain gun violence. This follows three mass shootings that left eleven people dead in Cape Town over the weekend. UDM’s Bulelwa Zondeka says the suspicion that drugs and extortion may be connected to the latest violence further demonstrates that illegal firearms, gangsterism, drugs and extortion cannot be tackled separately:

# Colombian president Abelardo de la Espriella has declared a state of national disaster after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake killed 132 people and left over 480 injured. The epicentre was near the village of San José del Palmar, in Chocó province. The death toll is expected to rise as emergency crews are racing to try and recover survivors trapped beneath the rubble. De la Espriella says the declaration will help mobilise extra resources to the most affected regions. The earthquake is the strongest recorded in the country in the last decade.

# Tennis: Former world number one Iga Swiatek is through to the Canadian Open semifinals in Toronto. The Pole brushed aside Russia’s Diana Shnaider, 6-2, 6-1, in 68 minutes. Swiatek will face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina following her 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory over Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach her fourth WTA 1000 semifinal of the year. Meanwhile, in Montreal, rain prompted the postponement of two men’s quarterfinals originally set for Monday. Organisers have rescheduled all four quarterfinals for today, with the semifinals on Wednesday and the final on Thursday.

And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-19-cents and the euro at 18-rand-68-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-87-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-35-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-415-dollars-72-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-33-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….