News 13:00

BULLETIN 3 September 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Plans to turn around Transnet are slowly yielding results
# Giwusa demands sustainable solutions to high fuel prices
# And, at least 129 people are killed in a prison break in the DRC

# Transnet CEO Michelle Phillips says plans to turn around the troubled state-owned rail and ports company are slowly bearing fruit. This is despite reporting a larger loss for the financial year ending March, totaling 7.3-billion-rand compared to five-billion-rand the previous year. The loss is mainly attributed to third-party legal claims amounting to 4.8-billion-rand. Despite these setbacks, Phillips remains optimistic:

# Green Connection and Natural Justice have expressed disappointment at the failure of Mineral and Petroleum Resources minister, Gwede Mantashe, to provide a record of his decision to grant TotalEnergies South Africa environmental authorisation. This is despite the minister being ordered to do so by the courts. The authorisation is for the exploratory drilling off the coast between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas. Green Connection says the documents are critical to its ongoing legal challenge against the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment and TotalEnergies.

# Union Giwusa has welcomed the fuel price decrease for September. The Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources says from tomorrow, 93-octane and 95-octane petrol will see a reduction of 92-cents per litre, while diesel prices will fall by one-rand-five-cents and 79-cents per litre. Giwusa’s spokesperson, Koketso Phasha, says these decreases are merely short-term relief and do not address the root causes of high fuel prices:

# At least 129 people were killed during a prison break attempt at the largest jail in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Interior minister Jacquemain Shabani says these include 24 people who were shot after warnings. At least 59 others had been wounded at the Makala prison in the capital of Kinshasa. The ministry says several people had been crushed or suffocated and a number of women had been raped.

# Cricket: England’s stand-in Test captain, Ollie Pope, is disappointed over the weak attendance during the fourth day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in London. The hosts beat the visitors by 190-runs after tea to seal the series 2-0 with one match remaining. Only about nine-thousand spectators pitched after the famous grounds were almost filled to capacity on the first three days. Pope says it’s a shame it ended like that while it was obviously a good day’s play.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-88-cents and the euro at 19-rand-74-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-45-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-837-dollars-34-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-503-dollars-6-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-25-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….