News 13:00

BULLETIN 14 September 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Nzimande calls for honour of Gordhan’s legacy in fight against state capture
# Lesotho Highlands Water Project tunnels set for six-month closure from October
# And, soccer: Cristiano Ronaldo makes history with one-billion social media followers

# Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Blade Nzimande, has urged the government to honour the late Pravin Gordhan’s legacy by continuing the fight against state capture. Nzimande told Newzroom Afrika of Gordhan’s resistance to grand corruption during Jacob Zuma’s presidency involving the Guptas. The minister described him as courageous and instrumental in transforming SARS into a world-class revenue service:

# Minister of International Relations, Ronald Lamola, has called for an end to the genocide in Gaza during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference in Washington. He reaffirmed South Africa’s support for Palestine, urging the world to unite against Israel and push for Palestinian statehood, emphasising the importance of advocating for human rights in Gaza:

# Water and Sanitation deputy minister David Mahlobo has announced that the Lesotho Highlands Water Project tunnels will close from 1 October to 31 March, 2025, for maintenance and repairs. The closure affects Free State, Mpumalanga, parts of Gauteng and North West. The minister assured measures are in place to ensure adequate water supply and urged communities to conserve water:

# Foreigners, including three Americans and a Brit, are among 37 people sentenced to death by a military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo for their role in a failed coup. Six people were killed during the botched attempt led by the opposition figure Christian Malanga on 19 May, that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of president Félix Tshisekedi. In total, 50 people are on trial. The 37 sentenced so far were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, terrorism and other charges.

# And, soccer: Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has passed one-billion followers across his social media accounts. He is reported to be the first person to achieve the feat, aided by his newly-launched YouTube channel that has attracted more than 60-million subscribers in just over three weeks. Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal recently to help Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in the Nations League. His club Al-Nassr will host Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.

Stay tuned for more news………….