News 12:00

BULLETIN NEWS AGENCY 6 September 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Transport minister urges the Auditor-General to expand the audit of the driving licence card procurement 
# Over 80-thousand people attend the Pope’s mass in Muslim-dominated Indonesia
# And, rugby: Western Province makes 14 changes to its starting team for the Currie Cup clash with Griquas

# Minister of Transport minister Barbara Creecy has asked the Auditor-General to expedite and broaden the audit of the new driving licence card procurement process. The review will now include whether supply chain rules were followed, data protection measures were sufficient, and the impact of Airports Company South Africa’s recent contract cancellation with the French firm IDEMIA. The department’s Collen Msibi says this request aims to address delays in licence card applications and issues with the current printing system: 

# 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:

# Over 80-thousand people packed Indonesia’s national stadium in Jakarta for Pope Francis’s mass in the country with its Muslim majority. The head of the Catholic Church is on a four-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific that also includes visits to Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. The pontiff encouraged the attendees to be builders of unity and peace. He also visited the Istiqlal Mosque in the capital where he signed a declaration on tackling climate change and promoting interfaith dialogue.

# 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.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 19-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-32-cents and Bitcoin trades at 55-thousand-796-dollars-80-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-517-dollars-10-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-98-cents a barrel.

# And, finally: A University of Pretoria student, Hanri Kriel, who was born with Miller syndrome, graduated with a PhD in Drama and Film. The rare genetic disorder is characterised by facial and limb abnormalities, mostly accompanied by hearing loss, which could delay speech development. Kriel says she does not let anything or anyone stand in the way of her achieving her dreams. She says seeing deaf participant Mia le Roux win the Miss SA title was incredibly inspiring and a powerful statement that highlighted the importance of inclusion.

Stay tuned for more news………….