News 11:00

BULLETIN 19 August 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The NPA acknowledges the gap between SIU referrals and criminal prosecutions
# The GOOD Party calls for the DA’s Mark Burke to be removed from Parliament’s finance committees
# And rugby: The All Blacks’ defence coach says they cannot get absorbed by the Boks’ giant pack

# The National Prosecuting Authority says the gap between referrals and prosecutions must be understood against the complexity of corruption cases. The Special Investigating Unit had made five-thousand-944 criminal referrals to the NPA since 2011, but only ten-percent translated to dockets and prosecutions. Gauteng has accounted for two-thousand-655 referrals since 2011, resulting in 206 dockets. The NPA says investigations often begin years after the alleged conduct, making it difficult to locate witnesses and obtain documentary and electronic evidence.

# The GOOD Party says the DA’s member of Parliament, Mark Burke, is unfit to serve on Parliament’s financial oversight committees while his company faces a regulatory investigation. This follows allegations the company, Kastelo, is linked to moving billions of rand offshore. GOOD’s secretary-general, Brett Herron, calls for Burke to be removed from committees overseeing the National Treasury, the South African Reserve Bank and public finances:

# ActionSA has described the ANC’s allegations against Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya as a political campaign to taint the party’s image ahead of the local government elections. The ANC has accused her of corruption and mismanaging municipal services, including unduly benefiting from a Tshwane contractor conducting work at her private residence. Moya has denied the allegations. ActionSA’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, says in the absence of any evidence, there is nothing to support these claims:

Moving abroad:

# US president Donald Trump says he has paused for three days the 50-percent tariff on a wide range of Canadian goods, which were scheduled to kick in today. The tariffs would have covered products including dairy, alcohol and furniture. In a post on Truth Social, Trump says the US and Canada have reached a deal, subject to the finalisation of documents. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney says substantial progress has been made towards a trade deal, but more work is needed.

# Rugby: All Blacks defence coach Tana Umaga says they cannot afford to get absorbed by the Springboks’ giant pack and lose sight of their backline threats. The first Test takes place at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday. Umaga, who has overseen the All Blacks’ defence portfolio for six games now, conceding an average of 23 points per game, says they know what to expect from the Boks:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-22-cents and the euro at 18-rand-80-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-98-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-272-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-350-dollars-17-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 93-dollars-22-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….