News 14:00

BULLETIN 14 August 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Statistics South Africa reports that retail sales increased by 1.6-percent in June
# Rugby: Marcos Kremer describes the All Blacks as the sport’s equivalent of Argentina’s world champion soccer team
# And Sylvester Stallone and KISS are among the 48th Kennedy Centre Honourees

# Statistics South Africa says retail trade sales rose by 1.6-percent year-on-year in June, driven mainly by strong sales in textiles, clothing, footwear, leather goods, hardware, paint and glass. Stats SA’s Raquel Floris says on a quarterly basis, seasonally adjusted sales increased by 0.9-percent, while food, beverages, and tobacco retailers recorded the biggest decline of 2.3-percent:

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile has praised the automotive manufacturing sector’s vital contribution to South Africa’s gross domestic product. Speaking at the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers’ Show in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, Mashatile reaffirmed government’s support for domestic component manufacturing, which employs over 80-thousand people. Mashatile outlined opportunities in localisation and transformation, including a potential 30-billion-rand boost through increased local procurement and creating 130 new black industrialists:

# Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, is meeting today to consider its terms of reference. The committee was established to probe claims of political interference in crime fighting efforts and must outline the scope of its work before proceeding. Parliament says the process aims to ensure transparency, fairness, and adherence to due process in addressing the allegations.

# Rugby: Argentinian loose forward Marcos Kremer describes the All Blacks as the sport’s equivalent of his country’s World Cup champion soccer team. The two countries play in the first round of the Rugby Championship in Cordoba this weekend, and will meet again in Buenos Aires a week later. Kremer expects a great match at home and believes it will go down to the final minutes. The All Blacks have lost three out of their last ten matches to the Pumas, including last year’s Rugby Championship clash in Wellington.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-56-cents and the euro at 20-rand-53-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 121-thousand-595-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-358-dollars-1-cent a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-56-cents a barrel.

# And finally: US president Donald Trump has revealed Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone, rock band KISS and country singer-songwriter George Strait as some of this year’s Kennedy Centre honourees. The others are British actor and comedian Michael Crawford and local singer Gloria Gaynor. Breaking with tradition, Trump will host and produce the 48th honouree ceremony later this year. He says he cannot wait to celebrate the recipients of one of the country’s highest recognitions of artists.

Stay tuned for more news………….