News 15:00

BULLETIN 3 August 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The petrol price decreases amid a fuel price adjustment
# The FF Plus says Tshwane loses millions due to the underspending of infrastructure funds
# And rugby: Many tickets are still available for the All Blacks’ matches against South African franchises

# Motorists will pay less for petrol but more for diesel from Wednesday as the August fuel price adjustments take effect. Petrol prices drops by 52-cents-a-litre, while diesel prices rises by between one-rand-23- and one-rand-38-cent-a-litre. Illuminating paraffin prices increase by one-rand-52-cents-a-litre, while LP gas becomes cheaper. The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources says lower petrol prices were driven by weaker international petrol prices, while diesel costs rose because of global supply shortages and refinery constraints.

# The case against alleged political fixer Brown Mogotsi has been postponed in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court to 20 August for full disclosure of the docket. He faces charges including perjury, defeating the ends of justice and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition after he allegedly faked an assassination attempt on him. Ballistic reports have linked the firearm used in the incident to other serious crimes, including murder, but the weapon has not been recovered. State advocate Thami Mpekana says the witness list should remain confidential.

# The Freedom Front Plus in Tshwane says the metro’s latest progress report on grants and subsidies for the period ending 30 June exposes serious failures in the spending of development funds. Spokesperson Nick Pascoe says the metro’s failure to complete basic processes on time has resulted in National Treasury reclaiming 155,4-million-rand’s development funds. He says the funds were intended for basic services such as safe drinking water, sewerage systems and roads:

# Forum for South Africa has welcomed government’s commitment to repatriate the remains of South Africans who died in Angola between 1976 and 1992, linked to apartheid-era political conflict. A preliminary mission to Angola was undertaken last year to conduct grave mapping, during which the technical team identified 89 potential graves for excavation. FOSA leader Tebogo Mashilompane says this initiative is an important step towards providing long-awaited closure to the affected families:

# Rugby: High prices are touted as possible reason why ticket sales are slow for the All Blacks’ tour matches. Prices start at 650-rand for Friday’s match against the Stormers in Cape Town, and varies for the matches against the Sharks in Durban, the Bulls at Loftus and the Lions at Ellis Park. Tickets are also still available for the third Test against the Springboks at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium, ranging from one-thousand-650- to four-thousand-rand. SA Rugby reportedly admitted sales for the tour matches had been from modest to poor.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-48-cents and the euro at 18-rand-99-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-643-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-50-dollars-33-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-54-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….