News 13:00

BULLETIN 28 August 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Five of the six South Africans missing after devastating floods in Nepal and Tibet are from KwaZulu-Natal
# The DA submits candidate lists for all 257 municipalities to the IEC
# And rugby: Stransky and Brooke are the first hall of fame inductees announced for the Class of 2026

# Five of the six South African citizens missing after the devastating floods in Nepal and Tibet are from KwaZulu-Natal. Transport and Human Settlements MEC, Siboniso Duma, says the other one is from KuGumpo City in the Eastern Cape. At least 270 people have reportedly died, while over one-thousand-300 are still unaccounted for. The department’s spokesperson, Ndabezinhle Sibiya, says they are providing support to the families:

# The DA has officially submitted candidates for all 257 municipalities and all four-thousand-484 wards in South Africa to the Electoral Commission today ahead of November’s local government elections. Political parties have until 5pm today to submit their candidate lists. The DA’s Ashor Sarupen says candidates have undergone a rigorous selection process designed to identify capable and committed public representatives who can earn the trust of voters:

# The Industrial Development Corporation has approached the National Treasury for an explicit government guarantee to help attract funding on more generous terms and strengthen its development mandate. The state-owned financier has also engaged the South African Revenue Service about possible tax exemptions similar to those available to the Development Bank of Southern Africa. IDC chief financial official Isaac Malevu says a guarantee could reduce credit risk and improve the corporation’s credit rating, while supporting funding for strategic industries.

 # Parliament’s portfolio committee on Social Development and the National Council of Provinces’ select committee on Social Services appointed a joint sub-committee to review and process nominations for vacancies on the Central Drug Authority board. The portfolio committee’s chairperson, Bridget Masango, says the authority has been without a functional board following delays in the recruitment of new members after the term of the previous board ended in March:

# Rugby: A hero of the Springboks’ 1995 World Cup champion team, Joel Stransky, and former All Blacks legend Zinzan Brooke were inducted into World Rugby’s hall of fame. Five others will be named in early September as the rest of the Class of 2026. Stransky scored all of South Africa’s points in the famous 15-12 victory over the All Blacks in the ’95 final. World Rugby’s chairperson, Brett Robinson, says Stransky’s name will forever be linked with one of the sport’s most powerful and unifying moments.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-97-cents and the euro at 18-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-70-cents and Bitcoin trades at 79-thousand-389-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-602-dollars-36-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….