News 15:00

BULLETIN 1 September 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A Mozambican man is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a six-year-old Johannesburg girl
# Solly Malatsi warns of a media sustainability crisis at the M20 Summit
# And tennis: Daniil Medvedev splits with his long-time coach

# The High Court in Johannesburg has sentenced 25-year-old Mozambican national Phethe Simiao to life imprisonment for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of six-year-old Amantle Samane in October 2024. Simiao pleaded guilty after the child’s body was found in his shack in Orlando East. Judge William Karam condemned the crime as perverse:

# Communications and Digital Technologies minister Solly Malatsi has warned that news media are struggling to survive, calling it an existential crisis. Speaking at the Media 20 Summit in Johannesburg, Malatsi cited the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, which found outlets in 160 of 180 countries face financial strain. He urged governments and the private sector to collaborate on sustainable models, warning that collapsing newsrooms threaten democracy, accountability, and information integrity:

# South Africa’s manufacturing sector slipped back into contraction in August, with the Absa purchasing managers’ index falling to 49.5 points. New sales orders dropped sharply by 8.5 points following a brief rebound in July, while business activity remained weak at 45.8 points for the tenth consecutive month. Employment improved slightly but stayed below growth levels, reflecting ongoing challenges in domestic and global demand. On the positive side, input costs eased marginally, aided by a stronger rand and stable oil prices. However, overall manufacturing remains under strain.

# Tennis: Russia’s Daniil Medvedev has parted ways with his coach of eight years. Under Gilles Cervara, the 29-year-old topped the ATP world rankings and reached six Grand Slam finals, winning one at the 2021 US Open. Medvedev’s last match with Cervara came at this year’s US Open, where he suffered a first-round loss to France’s Benjamin Bonzi before smashing his racket, for which he received a hefty fine. In four major appearances this year, Medvedev has won just one match and suffered three consecutive first-round losses.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-57-cents and the euro at 20-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 108-thousand-615-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-470-dollars-89-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-4-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Computer security services company Galix says cyber threats are growing more sophisticated, compliance requirements are tightening, and organisations are under pressure to innovate securely and fast. Galix’s Simeon Tassev says the process starts with identifying risks relevant to the business. He says risks need to be categorised, prioritised, and placed into a matrix that considers both likelihood and impact:

Stay tuned for more news………….