News 12:00

BULLETIN 21 August 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Green Connection urges Parliament to withdraw the proposed Gas Bill
# COSATU expresses concern about the rise of far-right-wing vigilante and tribal groupings
# And two Hong Kong activists are found guilty of inciting subversion over the Tiananmen commemoration vigils

# Eco-justice group Green Connection has urged Parliament to withdraw the proposed Gas Bill, warning it could lock South Africa deeper into oil and gas dependence while weakening oversight. The legislation, once promulgated, would replace the Gas Act, with a new framework covering areas including liquefied natural gas, gas infrastructure, investment, licensing and enforcement. Green Connection’s Lisa Makaula says the bill could expose consumers to volatile international gas prices:

# Business Leadership South Africa says the country needs to move beyond business as usual and lift growth above three-percent for large-scale job creation. This as 8.5 million people are without work, and roughly 300-thousand net new work-seekers enter the labour force every year. BLSA chairperson Adrian Gore says the business sector believes South Africa has a significant opportunity to build a self-reinforcing cycle of an improved narrative, investment, growth, jobs and increased confidence. He adds that the country has enormous unfulfilled potential. 

# Union federation Cosatu is concerned about the rise of far-right vigilante, racial and tribal groupings that pose a serious threat to South Africa’s hard-won non-racial democracy. AfriForum and the March and March movement announced a collaborative working group to cooperate on community safety, legal issues, education, and anti-crime initiatives. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says this strange matchup brings back worrying memories of similar unholy marriages between the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging and the Bantustan dictatorships:

Moving abroad:

# Two pro-democracy activists who organised annual vigils to mark China’s deadly Tiananmen crackdown, have been found guilty of inciting subversion by a Hong Kong court. In 1989, the ruling Chinese Communist Party sent tanks in to violently quell peaceful, student-led democracy protests at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, killing an estimated ten-thousand people. Prominent young human rights lawyer, Chow Hang-tung, and former opposition lawmaker, Lee Cheuk-yan, face jail terms of up to ten years. A third defendant, Albert Ho, pleaded guilty in January.

# Rugby: All Blacks coach Dave Rennie says they are bracing for a physical arm wrestle rather than an open, expansive contest against the Springboks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg tomorrow. He has named a strong team, with Ardie Savea leading the side, and scrum-half Cam Roigard and winger Will Jordan set to make their first appearance of the tour. Rennie has flagged the aerial battle as a key early flashpoint:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-5-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-77-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-89-cents and Bitcoin trades at 76-thousand-897-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-564-dollars-64-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 94-dollars-82-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….