News 16:00

BULLETIN 2 September 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa reaffirms a commitment to progressive internationalism at the China-Africa Summit
# The ACDP warns of a growing veterinarian crisis as professionals leave South Africa
# And, rugby: Kolisi’s return to the Sharks is reportedly back on the cards

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says the government of national unity continues to prioritise the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and a better Africa at the heart of its foreign policy. Speaking at the China-Africa cooperation summit in Beijing, China, Ramaphosa emphasised South Africa’s commitment to progressive internationalism. He highlighted shared objectives with China in advancing the interests of Africa and the global south:

# The ACDP says South Africa faces a critical shortage of veterinarians due to a significant emigration of professionals. The party believes the departure of these vets has caused a severe shortage, particularly in rural areas. With only about 60 vets per million people, the country falls short of the international standard of 200 to 400. ACDP deputy president Wayne Thring calls for urgent measures to retain skilled veterinarians to address critical animal health needs:

# The Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced fuel prices are set to drop to their lowest levels since early last year. From Wednesday 93-octane and 95-octane petrol will see a reduction of 92-cents per litre, while diesel prices will fall by one-rand-five-cents and 79-cents per litre. Illuminating paraffin will be cut by one-rand-three-cents per litre and LP gas will decrease by ten-cents per kilogram. The decreases are attributed to a drop in the Brent oil price and a stronger rand. 

# Rugby: Springbok captain Siya Kolisi’s return to the Sharks is back on the cards. Kolisi wants out of his contract with Racing 92 after less than one year of its three-year duration, but the French club’s president, Jacky Lorenzetti, wanted the release fee of around 17-million-rand up front. The Sharks wanted to pay it in instalments. Now businessman Vincent Mai, who also financed Kolisi at Grey High School in Gqeberha, reportedly offered to assist the Sharks with the payment.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-91-cents and the euro at 19-rand-81-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-53-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-331-dollars-5-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-500-dollars-37-cent a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-77-cents a barrel.

# And finally, a beluga whale suspected of having been trained as a spy by Russia has been found dead off the Norwegian coast. The whale was first spotted in Norwegian waters five years ago with a GoPro camera attached to a harness that read “Equipment of St Petersburg”. The discovery led to a Norwegian intelligence investigation which later said the whale was likely to have been trained by the Russian army as he seemed accustomed to humans. Moscow never reacted to the allegations, but Russia has a history of training marine mammals for military purposes.

Stay tuned for more news………….