News 13:00

BULLETIN 22 August 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Parliament’s repairs are aimed for completion before the end of its term
# Tshwane gives assurances of its readiness to tackle the Mpox outbreak
# And, rugby: Swys de Bruin is ready for the new challenge with the Springbok Women

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Public Works has received an update on the National Assembly in Cape Town’s reconstruction, following the January 2022 fire. Deputy Public Works and Infrastructure minister, Sihle Zikalala, says all necessary measures are in place to complete the three-billion-rand project before the current parliamentary term ends. Zikalala says the rebuild aims to restore the historic building’s functionality:

# The City of Tshwane’s Health Department says it remains vigilant amid the Mpox outbreak. The World Health Organisation has declared the disease a public health emergency. The department says since an outbreak was declared in Gauteng, three laboratory cases were recorded in Tshwane. Mayoral committee member for Health, Rina Marx, says all cases were locally transmitted with no recorded travel history. She adds it has been over 50 days since the last confirmed case in the metro:

# Deputy minister of Health, Joe Phaahla, has announced the National Health Laboratory Service has fully restored its operations. This follows a cyber-attack in June that severely disrupted essential public health services. Phaahla commended the service for swiftly rebuilding its IT systems, which is vital to serving over 85-percent of South Africa’s population. Phaahla says the service is strengthening its cybersecurity to prevent future disruptions, and to ensure continued critical health services delivery.

# The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union has reiterated its call to the Department of Education in Gauteng to provide effective security measures at schools. The union has condemned the setting alight of three classrooms at Lancea Vale Secondary School in Eldorado Park on Tuesday, a day after the commencement of preliminary examinations for Grade 12. This is the same school where a learner was stabbed last week. Sadtu says violence in schools has a negative effect on learning and teaching.

# Rugby: Former Springbok coaching consultant, Swys de Bruin, says he cannot wait to start the 2025 World Cup journey with the Springbok Women. He has been appointed as the performance coach for the women’s national side. De Bruin says he is determined to not only prepare the team for a best-ever performance at the World Cup in England, but to also deliver eye-catching performances at next month’s Women’s 15 in Cape Town:

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-93-cents and the euro at 19-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-52-cents and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-891-dollars-11-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-501-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….