News 11:00

BULLETIN 18 September 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The public service union welcomes the suspension of the UIF commissioner
# Twenty-five are injured after a train derailed near Paarl
# And, sky-gazers catch a glimpse of the rare supermoon and lunar eclipse

# The Public Servants Association welcomes the suspension of the Unemployment Insurance Fund commissioner Tebogo Maruping over alleged corruption and misuse of power. Maruping is accused of being involved in a questionable agreement with Thuja Holdings, risking five-billion-rand meant for UIF relief. The PSA’s Claude Naiker commends the decision, stating that corruption within the fund harms vulnerable citizens and should not be tolerated:  

# 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 Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa in the Western Cape has launched an investigation into the train derailment at Dal Josafat Station near Paarl, which left 25 people injured. The train was en route from Cape Town to Wellington station when the incident occurred yesterday evening. Prasa’s spokesperson, Zinobulali Mihi, says Transnet Freight Rail is also investigating the incident:

# Rugby: Rising Springbok star Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been ruled out for about four and half weeks, as he has undergone knee surgery. The 22-year-old injured his knee during the first Rugby Championship match against New Zealand in Johannesburg last month. Despite carrying the knock, he featured off the bench in the second All Blacks Test in Cape Town. Coach Rassie Erasmus says Feinberg-Mngomezulu will only be available for the November tour of the UK:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-56-cents and the euro at 19-rand-53-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-502-dollars-1-cent. Gold sells at two-thousand-570-dollars-9-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-27-cents a barrel.

# And finally, a supermoon lit up the sky across the world overnight on Tuesday into this morning, coinciding with a rare partial lunar eclipse. The celestial event appeared over Europe and much of Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when Earth moves between the sun and the full moon without being perfectly aligned. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration says the next partial eclipse will be in August 2026, and around 96-percent of the moon will be in shadow.

Stay tuned for more news………….