News 09:00

BULLETIN 18 September 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Malema says the EFF’s leadership remains intact despite Shivambu’s departure
# The Treasury requires assurance from the Post Office before paying a bail-out
# And Hezbollah vows retaliation against Israel over the deadly pager explosions

# EFF leader Julius Malema says although the departure of former deputy president Floyd Shivambu was painful, the leadership of the party remains intact. Shivambu, who was key in drawing up the EFF’s founding documents, its constitution, and seven cardinal pillars, left the party last month to join the MK Party. In an interview with the SABC, Malema that he has no personal relationship with Shivambu anymore:

# Communications and Digital Technologies deputy minister Mondli Gungubele says the Treasury wants more proof that the Post Office would not be a drain on the fiscus once it got a bailout. Earlier this month, Post Office bosses warned it will run out of money by next month, and will be forced into liquidation, unless it gets a 3.8-billion-rand government bailout or guarantee. Gungubele told Parliament that the bailout would not come arbitrarily and that they would continue to engage with the Treasury.

# The DA is calling for the Emfuleni Municipality employee arrested alongside a local ANC branch chairperson to be suspended. The two are accused of being part of a network that extorted a contractor installing fibre cables in Sharpeville to the tune of two-million-rand. The DA’s, Duncan Mthembu, says they will continue to fight against any form of criminality within the Emfuleni, as criminality affects residents and robs them of fair opportunities:

# Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel following the deadly pager explosions in Lebanon. At least nine people were killed and nearly three-thousand wounded after handheld pagers used by members of Hezbollah exploded. Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon was among the wounded. The militant group blamed Israel for what it called criminal aggression and vowed that it would get just retribution. Israel has not commented on the attack.

# Soccer: Real Madrid began their Champions League title defence with a three-one win over Stuttgart. Eighteen-year-old Endrick became Madrid’s youngest Champions League goalscorer while Kylian Mbappe and Antonio Rudiger were also on target. Harry Kane became the first English player to score four goals in a Champions League game, as Bayern Munich demolished Dinamo Zagreb nine-two. Liverpool defeated AC Milan three-one. There were also wins for Juventus, Aston Villa and Sporting.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-58-cents and the euro at 19-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-648-dollars-68-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-573-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-38-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….