News 09:00

BULLETIN 19 August 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Steenhuisen says the agricultural sector has defied the global trade turbulence
# Zelensky says he is ready to meet Putin
# And tennis: Alcaraz and Swiatek are the Cincinnati Open champions

# Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen says the agricultural sector has demonstrated remarkable growth and resilience in the face of significant global trade headwinds. New data released by the Agricultural Business Chamber shows agricultural exports to the US surged by 26-percent in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period a year ago. The ministry’s spokesperson, Joylene van Wyk, says these results highlight how urgent it is to resolve the ongoing tariff talks with America:

# The ANC says it will take disciplinary steps against senior members Malusi Gigaba and Senzo Mchunu following their recent remarks. In an interview published in The Sunday Times, Gigaba stated that the party’s national executive committee had failed to achieve its objectives. Speaking in KwaZulu-Natal at the weekend, suspended Police minister Mchunu suggested that the ANC is on the brink of collapsing. The ANC says Gigaba and Mchunu’s conduct represents a flagrant violation of ANC internal communication protocols and undermines the fundamental discipline of the movement.

# The City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Directorate achieved 94.1-percent capital spend of 3.741-billion-rand for the 2024/2025 financial year. This is the largest municipal water infrastructure investment in Africa. Mayoral committee member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, says Cape Town’s investment significantly outpaces other major cities, with the metro’s capital budget being 91.2-percent larger than Johannesburg and 116.9-percent larger than eThekwini over three years:

# Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says he is ready for a bilateral meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in a bid to end the war. Zelensky and seven other European leaders met with US president Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. The meeting followed Trump’s Alaska summit on Friday with Putin. Zelensky says they had very good talks today about sensitive matters, including security guarantees:

# Tennis: World number two Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz won his first Cincinnati Open, after defending champion Jannik Sinner was forced to retire just 23-minutes into the final. The Italian was trailing 5-0 when he called for the doctor, but he was unable to continue. In the women’s draw, reigning Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek defeated Italian Jasmine Paolini, 7-5, 6-4, to win her maiden Cincinnati Open title. She is the first Polish player in the Open era to win a singles title at the event.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-64-cents and the euro at 20-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-81-cents and Bitcoin trades at 114-thousand-907-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-337-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-74-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….