News 15:00

BULLETIN 20 August 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Madlanga commission into Mkhwanazi’s allegations will start its hearings in Pretoria on 1 September
# Inflation jumped to a 10-month high in July
# And golf: Rory McIlroy says the revised Tour Championship format gives everyone a clean slate

# The Madlanga judicial commission of inquiry into criminality, political interference, and corruption in the criminal justice system will begin hearings on the first of next month. Chairperson Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga says the first session is expected to be open to the public and will take place at the Bridgette Mabandla Justice College in central Pretoria, where the commission’s offices will also be located. The commission’s spokesperson, Jeremy Michaels, says public submissions are not yet open.

# The National Prosecuting Authority has welcomed the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court in Gauteng’s decision to deny bail to businessman Katiso ‘KT’ Molefe, accused of orchestrating the 2022 assassination of Oupa ‘DJ Sumbody’ Sefoka. NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane says Molefe poses a danger to society and could interfere with investigations. She confirmed prosecutors are centralising multiple related dockets to strengthen the case, which was postponed to 18 September:

# Statistics South Africa says inflation has risen to a ten-month high of 3.5-percent in July, up from three-percent in June. Household food budgets remain under strain, with food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation accelerating to 5.7-percent. Beef prices have risen nearly 29-percent over the past year, while vegetable inflation reached 14.6-percent. Stats SA’s Patrick Kelly says there was some relief with coffee, eggs, and certain milk products becoming cheaper:

# Golf: World number two Rory McIlroy admits he didn’t hate the starting-strokes format used for the FedEx Cup in the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship. A new change this year will see the points leader, who in this case is world number one Scottie Scheffler, starting at level par with the rest of the field. The previous system saw the points leader start with a two-stroke advantage. McIlroy says the new format will be a clean slate for everyone:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 20-rand-61-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-87-cents and Bitcoin trades at 113-thousand-487-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-329-dollars-21-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-10-cents a barrel. 

# And finally: The Land Bank Insurance Company has announced the expansion of its pilot index insurance with the launch of Area-Yield Index Insurance. The product protects crop farmers against major yield losses caused by drought, floods, or pests. Unlike traditional insurance, payouts are based on district-level data rather than farm assessments, ensuring quicker compensation. The insurance, developed with the International Finance Corporation and CelsiusPro, will initially cover smallholder maize and soya bean farmers in five provinces.

Stay tuned for more news………….