News 11:00

BULLETIN 25 August 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA urges minister Tau to fast-track the appointment of a new Lotteries Commission chair
# The US vice president says Russia has made significant concessions on Ukraine
# And Tatjana Smith wins big at the SA Sports Awards

# The DA has urged minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, to urgently appoint a new chairperson for the National Lotteries Commission following Barney Pityana’s resignation. The DA’s Toby Chance says Tau must not repeat the mistake of his predecessor, Ebrahim Patel, who took 18 months to appoint a replacement for disgraced former chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda. He says Pityana must be credited for starting the process of cleaning up the commission:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Public Service and Administration has expressed concern over reports of serious irregularities at the Government Pensions Administration Agency. This follows the suspension of a senior financial manager who refused to approve questionable payments of over 21-million-rand. Allegations also surfaced of a ghost contract worth nearly one-billion-rand. The committee has requested a joint probe with the standing committee on Finance as the agency manages funds for 1.7-million employees and pensioners.

# Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube and deputy minister Reginah Mhaule will host the G20 National Education Indaba at Century City in Cape Town today. Under the theme ‘Taking the G20 to the People,’ the indaba will focus on quality foundational learning through Early Childhood Care and Education and teacher professional development. Insights from all nine provinces will be shared ahead of the G20 Education Working Group Ministerial in October.

Moving abroad:

# US vice president JD Vance says Russia has made significant concessions in talks to end its war with Ukraine. Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has maintained that any security guarantees for Ukraine would have to involve Moscow and its biggest ally, China, alongside the US, UK, and France. In an interview with NBC, Vance said more sanctions against Russia are possible to pressure the Kremlin toward peace, but those decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis:

# Sports news: Swimmer Tatjana Smith, who clinched four Olympic medals, won sportswoman and sports star of the year at the South African Sport Awards. She retired after last year’s Paris Games. Sportsman of the year went to cyclist Alan Hatherly. Para athletes Simoné Kruger and Mpumelelo Mhlongo were named sportswoman and sportsman of the year with a disability, respectively. The four-by-100-metres men’s relay team won team of the year following their silver medal in Paris. Smith says representing the country has been special:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-47-cents and the euro at 20-rand-47-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-61-cents and Bitcoin trades at 111-thousand-995-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-367-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-22-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….