News 11:00

BULLETIN 6 September 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Institute for Race Relations says loaning more money to Transnet won’t solve the infrastructure crisis 
# Five people including two children are killed in a taxi accident in the Eastern Cape

# And, rugby: Western Province makes 14 changes to its starting team for the Currie Cup clash with Griquas

# The Institute of Race Relations says lending more money to Transnet is counter-intuitive while it is still in a deep fiscal hole due to failures in management during the state capture period. The New Development Bank has approved a five-billion-rand loan agreement with Transnet, to support the modernisation and improvement of South Africa’s freight rail sector. IRR’s Hermann Pretorius says the loan also places government in a difficult position:

# Media24 CEO Ishmet Davidson will step down on Monday, with chief financial official Raj Lalbahadur taking over as interim CEO. Davidson, who led the company since 2018, will stay on as an advisor. During his tenure, he guided Media24 through financial challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic. He also spearheaded the company’s digital transformation. Lalbahadur, who joined Media24 in 2007, expressed his commitment to steering the company through its upcoming restructuring and industry changes.

# The Eastern Cape Transport Department says five people died and 12 others were injured when the mini-bus taxi they were travelling in overturned on a gravel road in Libode. The victims include a couple and their two children, with the youngest being two-months old. The department’s spokesperson, Unathi Binqose, says a woman in her 70s later succumbed to her injuries on arrival at St Barnabas Hospital:

# US president Joe Biden’s son Hunter has pleaded guilty to all nine charges in his tax evasion case. The 54-year-old had been set to stand trial for failing to pay taxes from 2016 to 2019. Biden faces a maximum penalty of 17-years in prison and fines of up to 17-million-rand. He will be sentenced in December. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, says his client wanted to forego a trial for the sake of private interest:

# Rugby: Lock JD Schickerling will play his 50th match for Western Province in this afternoon’s Currie Cup encounter with Griquas in Kimberley. The starting line-up shows 14 changes from the team that began against the Pumas last week, with only fullback Luke Burger retaining his place. He is joined by wings Angelo Davids and Leolin Zas. Dan du Plessis will captain the side, and Paul de Wet and Jurie Matthee form the halfback pairing. Springboks Steven Kitshoff, André-Hugo Venter and Ben-Jason Dixon are on the bench.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-68-cents and the euro at 19-rand-66-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-32-cents and Bitcoin trades at 56-thousand-363-dollars-86-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-519-dollars-19-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-3-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….