News 09:00

BULLETIN 14 August 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC caucus calls on the Impeachment Committee to respect the courts
# Minister Creecy says the aviation sector needs gender equality
# And, the FF Plus says Ekurhuleni’s collection rate is a smokescreen

# The ANC Parliamentary Caucus says the Constitutional Court ruling on appeals against president Cyril Ramaphosa’s interdict strengthens the principle that no parliamentary majority, opposition party or political campaign stands above the law. On Wednesday, the court dismissed a bid by political parties and Parliament’s Impeachment Committee to appeal an interim interdict prohibiting public hearings in the Phala Phala matter. The ANC’s Cameron Dugmore says the judicial review process must be allowed to run its course without political interference or manufactured urgency:

# Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy says South Africa has to be deliberate about ensuring that women are part of the skills pipelines, training opportunities, recruitment strategies and leadership pathways in the aviation sector. The country has over 33-thousand-500 licensed aviation professionals, almost six-thousand-800 of whom are women. Creecy says her department has awarded 317 of 460 contracts in the 2025/2026 financial year to women-owned enterprises, amounting to 312.3-million-rand. Creecy says as African aviation grows, they must ensure that the employment and economic opportunities created by that growth are made accessible to women.

# The Freedom Front Plus says the City of Ekurhuleni’s annual debt collection rate of 90.38-percent looks reassuring on paper, but in practice, it is a smokescreen concealing the true state of affairs. The figure is quoted in the latest report tabled to the Finance Oversight Committee, with the party claiming that there are enormous discrepancies. FF Plus’s Denise Janse van Rensburg says they had warned the metro against simply relying on a projected 90-percent collection rate, and requested that conservative scenarios be considered:

# The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned the Israeli military’s operations in the occupied West Bank, saying the settler siege of Palestinians marks a new low. About 20 Palestinian families from Qusra had been evacuated by Israel Defence Forces soldiers allegedly for security purposes. The UN’s Ajith Sunghay says Palestinians living in Qusra have been the target of increasingly frequent attacks since November 2025, when Israeli settlers established an outpost nearby:

# Soccer: Ireland has also withdrawn its support for another term for FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The country’s governing body also confirmed its backing for European, American and Asian boards who accused him of breaking trust through deception. This follows his failed plan to sell a stake in FIFA’s commercial operations to a private investment company. Wales and England last week withdrew their support. Ireland says the recent events have raised significant concerns regarding governance, transparency and the lack of meaningful consultation by FIFA.

# 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-85-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-322-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-326-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 89-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….