News 13:00

BULLETIN 17 September 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# BOSA launches a campaign to secure the direct election of the President and Members of Parliament
# Eskom marks a milestone in reducing household emissions near Mpumalanga power stations
# And Cricket: Lungi Ngidi says the Proteas do not underestimate Afghanistan

# BOSA has launched two petitions today, asking South Africans to support its calls for the direct election of the president and members of Parliament. The party’s spokesperson, Roger Solomons, says the Electoral Reform Consultation Panel has now been constituted. They are asking for written on proposals on why, how and whether the current South African electoral system should be reformed, changed, or even replaced:

# Eskom has reached a major milestone in its efforts to reduce household emissions near its Mpumalanga power stations through the Masibambisane Air Quality Offset project. The initiative, which has retrofitted 91-percent of targeted homes in Ezamokuhle, focuses on reducing coal and wood burning by providing cleaner energy sources like electricity and LP gas. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena says the expanded project will reach over 36-thousand households across the province: 

# The GOOD Party has written to Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Anton Bredell, calling for an investigation into the alleged breaches of the Councillors Code of Conduct by the Drakenstein mayor. The mayor Stephen Korabie allegedly conducted an unlawful investigation into allegations of gross and serious misconduct by the City Manager, Johan Leibbrandt. GOOD’s, Keagen Gertse, says they no longer believe in the independence of internal processes in the DA-led Drakenstein:

# Cricket: The Proteas men are currently in the United Arab Emirates, where they will take on Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series, starting tomorrow in Sharjah. South Africa is building squad depth by resting some key players, while welcoming back Lungi Ngidi, who returns from a calf injury to spearhead the bowling attack. The 28-year-old pace bowler says they are not underestimating Afghanistan:

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-61-cents and the euro at 19-rand-61-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-29-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-727-dollars-32-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-575-dollars-69-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Six finalists for the 2024 Booker Prize have been announced, with five of the books by female authors, the highest number of women shortlisted in the prize’s 55-year history. The prize honours the best work of fiction written in English by authors of any nationality and published in the UK and Ireland. Yael van der Wouden is the first Dutch writer to be shortlisted for the prize. Other authors on the list are Britian Samantha Harvey, Americans Percival Everett and Rachel Kushner, Canadian Anne Michaels, and Charlotte Wood of Australia.  

Stay tuned for more news………….