News 09:00

BULLETIN 1 August 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF says Ramaphosa is leading the country to a collapse
# The deputy minister of Trade and Industry says South Africa must create an export-oriented economy
# And the US has reached a plea deal with the alleged 9/11 mastermind

# The EFF says the current administration has demonstrated no capability to address the country’s urgent problems. The party has rejected the Presidency budget in the National Council of Provinces, which has already been approved in the National Assembly. For the 2024/2025 financial year, the Presidency is allocated a budget of 612-million-rand. The EFF’s, Mandisa Makesini, says president Cyril Ramaphosa’s failure to oversee the economy properly is leading the country to complete collapse:

# Trade, Industry, and Competition deputy minister Andrew Whitfield says a key focus area under the new administration is a renewed export drive to lower the risk of slow domestic growth, while also identifying high growth opportunities. South Africa’s exports in May this year totalled over 178-billion-rand. Whitfield says the creation of an export-oriented economy can be realised through a dedicated focus on implementing measures to boost the competitiveness of local industries in global markets, streamlining export processes, and lowering trade barriers.

# Gauteng MEC for Health And Wellness, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, says the 2024/2025 budget emphasises accelerating performance towards local and global health goals by 2030. The department has been allocated 64.8-billion-rand for this fiscal year and 202.6-billion-rand over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. Nkomo-Ralehoko says what is key is the commitment to universal health coverage, and ensuring access to quality healthcare:

# The US Department of Defence has reached a plea deal with three of the men accused of plotting the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Nearly three-thousand people in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania were killed in the al-Qaeda attacks. In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, the three including mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offences, including the murder of the two-thousand-976 people listed in the charge sheet.

# Soccer: The Premier League has fined reigning champions Manchester City 48.07-million-rand for delaying the kick-off or restart of matches. There were 22 separate breaches over the last two seasons, with eight coming during the 2022/2023 campaign and 14 last season. City has apologised for the breaches. The Premier League says rules relating to kick-offs and restarts help ensure the organisation of the competition is set at the highest possible professional standard and provides certainty to fans and participating clubs.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-22-cents and the euro at 19-rand-74-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-43-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-820-dollars-79-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-445-dollars-75-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-49-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….