News 14:00

BULLETIN 26 September 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# SADTU launches a campaign against education budget cuts
# Giwusa says the proposed 36-percent Eskom tariff increase is another form of monopolistic abuse
# And tennis: Another first-round loss for Stefanos Tsitsipas

# The South African Democratic Teachers Union will launch the Go Public Fund Education Campaign tomorrow to fight education budget cuts. Speaking at the union’s tenth congress in Boksburg, general secretary Mugwena Maluleke emphasised education as a national investment. He warns cuts will harm learners as well as teachers, and calls for job security and enhanced skills for educators:

# Union Giwusa says it is implacably opposed to the 36-percent electricity tariff increase proposed by Eskom. Giwusa president Mametlwe Sebei says moreover, the National Energy Regulator has been utterly hopeless in serving the public, social and environmental interest. He says in addition to rising poverty, unemployment, inequality and pollution, one component of the misery is the availability and price of electricity:

# The GOOD Party says national police commissioner Fannie Masemola must urgently explain how the police and the Hawks will properly investigate the City of Cape Town’s alleged links to gangsterism. The party’s secretary-general, Brett Herron, says ongoing developments paint a chilling picture of how underworld activities are happily taking place in South Africa’s allegedly best-run municipality. He says there are now concerns over the safety of city manager Lungelo Mbandazayo, amid reports that heavily armed suspected 28s gang members were found near his home:

# Tennis: Stefanos Tsitsipas’s troubles continued in the Japanese Open when he was ousted in the first round. The Greek, whose world ranking plummeted from third to 12th, lost to American Alex Michelsen. Tsitsipas, who reached the final of two Grand Slam tournaments earlier in his career, was also eliminated in the first round of the US Open last month. He won just two tournaments the past two seasons. Jack Draper of Britain, who reached the semifinals in New York, advanced to the second round in Kōtō.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-21-cents and the euro at 19-rand-18-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-869-dollars-88-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-669-dollars-32-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-71-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Elon Musk has denied being romantically involved with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni. The billionaire entrepreneur and Italy’s first female prime minister were pictured looking cosy at a black-tie event in New York this week, during which Musk presented Meloni with an award. He heaped praises on the Italian leader, and called her even more beautiful inside than outside. She returned the compliments by saying Musk was a precious genius. Meloni split from her long-time partner last year, while Musk was married three times before.

Stay tuned for more news………….