News 13:00

BULLETIN 13 September 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa delays the implementation of the controversial sections of BELA by three months
# The EFF claims Pravin Gordhan evaded accountability, leaving a legacy of unpunished crimes
# And, tennis: Dimitrov replaces Nadal in Team Europe for the Laver Cup

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has delayed the implementation of controversial sections of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill by three months. These sections include giving provincial departments the power to determine language and admission policies for schools. He says this will give the parties of the GNU time to deliberate on these issues and make proposals on how the different views may be accommodated. Should the parties not be able to agree on an approach, then they will proceed with the implementation of these parts of the Bill.

# The EFF has expressed no sorrow over the death of former Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, criticising his legacy as one of destruction and betrayal. The party blames Gordhan for the collapse of state-owned enterprises, including Eskom, Transnet, Denel, and South African Airways, during his tenure. EFF’s Leigh-Ann Mathys claims the former minister’s actions contributed to widespread unemployment and suffering, accusing him of corruption and arrogance:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Social Development wants to institute consequence management for officials from the South African Social Security Agency. The officials are implicated in the material irregularities identified by the Auditor-General of South Africa, including 316-million-rand, which Sassa paid to Cash Paymaster in 2012. Committee chairperson, Bridget Masango, says the Gauteng High Court ruled that CPS was not eligible to receive money and should repay Sassa:

# The crew of a British Royal Navy warship found cocaine worth 3.7-billion-rand when they intercepted a so-called narco-sub in the Caribbean. The Navy was conducting patrols together with the US Coast Guard and a US maritime aircraft. The little semi-submersible vessel was found 350-kilometres off the Dominican Republic’s coast with two-thousand kilogram of the drug on board, and two people were arrested. Sky News reports drug smugglers use the narco-subs which sit low in the water to evade detection, while some are even fully-submersible.

# Tennis: Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov has been called up to represent Team Europe in the Laver Cup in Berlin, as a replacement for Rafael Nadal. The 38-year-old Spaniard withdrew from the competition saying he believes other players can help Team Europe deliver the win. Dimitrov, often referred to as “Baby Fed” for his playing style reminiscent of Roger Federer, brings a wealth of experience and flair to the team, which already boasts stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-75-cents and the euro at 19-rand-69-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-34-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-124-dollars-57-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-568-dollars-49-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….