News 14:00

BULLETIN 30 August 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Police note an increase in number of rape cases reported
# Saftu says government has to strengthen its hand in dealing with racism on farms
# And, rugby: The Wallabies’ coach is under huge pressure before the weekend’s clash with the Pumas

# The Police ministry has noted an increase in the number of rape cases reported to authorities. The South African Police Service has released the crime statistics for the fourth quarter of the 2023/’24 financial year and the first quarter of the 2024/’25 financial year. During a briefing, spokesperson Thulare Sikhukhune said reporting increased from nine-thousand-252 counts to nine-thousand-309:

# The long-awaited reopening of the inquest into the 1985 murders of the anti-apartheid activists, the Cradock Four, is expected to commence at the High Court in Gqeberha next week. The delay stems from the legal teams of former police and Army witnesses who cited insufficient preparation time and lack of state funding. The families, seeking justice 40 years later, expressed frustration over yet another setback in the case.

# Saftu says government has to strengthen its hand in dealing with farmers, who mostly harbour racism against black people. Saftu’s spokesperson, Mogoshadi Maserumule, says this requires the Department of Employment and Labour to ensure that inspection takes place regularly on all farms, to ensure compliance with labour laws, regulations, and standards. She says police must also deal with cases of assault by farmers on employees and passers-by which are often neglected:

# Civil rights organisation Cape Forum has cautioned that the Western Cape Education Department’s decision to cut over two-thousand teaching posts next year could have severe repercussions for the province. It warns that the cuts, driven by a 3.8-billion-rand budget deficit, risk undermining education quality, increasing class sizes, and worsening crime and economic growth. It adds that a federal approach to education in the province could have mitigated the impact of the department’s drastic decision.

# Rugby: Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is under huge pressure before the weekend’s Rugby Championship Test against the Pumas in La Plata. Australia is languishing at the bottom of the log after two heavy losses to the Springboks, while Argentina is just one point adrift of the All Blacks who they beat first and then lost to. Schmidt says he’s trying to increase the depth of his player pool. The Pumas hope to end veteran hooker Agustin Creecy’s career on a high in front of his home crowd.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-65-cents and the euro at 19-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 59-thousand-645-dollars-86-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-521-dollars-25-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-75-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….