News 16:00

BULLETIN NEWS AGENCY 12 August 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA demands NPA integrity in Ace Magashule’s former PA’s case
# The DA calls on Mpumalanga Education to introduce road safety programmes at schools
# And, rugby: The Wallabies coach says the Boks didn’t give them much breathing space

# ActionSA has urged the National Prosecuting Authority to uphold integrity in the case against the former personal assistant to former Free State premier Ace Magashule. Moroadi Cholota faces fraud, corruption, and money laundering charges related to a 255-million-rand asbestos contract. She appeared briefly in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court. ActionSA’s Patricia Kopane told Newzroom Afrika justice must be served:

# The DA in Mpumalanga calls for a swift probe into the learner transport incidents in the province. Three people including a learner were killed when a midi-bus, bakkie and an articulated truck collided on the road between Karino and Mbombela this morning. The DA’s Annerie Weber says every day, thousands of learners are forced to walk long distances to and from school, in all weather and often under dangerous circumstances:

# Municipal union Samwu demands fair compensation for municipal workers as it resumes talks with the South African Local Government Association. The union argues the current offer from SALGA is inadequate and does not address the financial pressures workers face. They reject National Treasury’s advisory on wage increase limits to between 3- and 6-percent, arguing it undermines the collective bargaining process. Samwu’s Papikie Mohale urges SALGA to revise its offer to meet workers’ needs and reflect their true worth.

# The leaders of France, Germany and Britain say there can be no further delay in negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza, warning Iran and its allies against any further escalation of the conflict. The joint statement came after one of the deadliest reported Israeli strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip in more than 10 months of war. French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and British prime minister Keir Starmer say in a joint statement the fighting must end now, and all hostages still detained by Hamas must be released.

# Rugby: Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt say the margin of Saturday’s 33-7 loss to the Springboks in Brisbane isn’t his biggest concern before this coming weekend’s second Test in Perth. South Africa dominated most of the set pieces, leading to them scoring five tries before the hosts’ single one late in the game when the Boks were reduced to 13 players due to yellow cards. Schmidt says Australia needs to really get a number of elements more competitive:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-21-cents and the euro at 19-rand-90-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-25-cents and Bitcoin trades at 59-thousand-680-dollars-6-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-443-dollars-26-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….