News 17:00

BULLETIN 23 September 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Cosatu urges minister Mantashe to urgently intervene in unjustified retrenchments at SERITI Resources
# Then DA says the new Hawks appointee Patrick Mbotho is unfit to serve
# And Cricket: A disappointed Proteas coach is to focus on developing the team’s depth

# Cosatu is calling on Mineral and Petroleum Resources minister, Gwede Mantashe, to urgently intervene in the imminent retrenchments at SERITI Resources. The federation’s spokesperson, Zanele Sabela, says the company has been on a wild streak of Section 189 notices which will leave one-thousand-143 workers out of jobs. She says Cosatu supports its affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers, whose members have been directly affected by these retrenchments:

# The DA is urgently calling on Police minister, Senzo Mchunu, to set aside the appointment of Patrick Mbotho as divisional commissioner in the Hawks, given the serious allegations against him. Mbotho is set to start in his new position on 1 October with a two-million-rand salary package. The DA’s Lisa Schickerling says Mbotho posted graphic sexual content on a police detective command WhatsApp group from his official cellphone in 2017:

# The DA is concerned about rising crime affecting Wild Coast tourism. The DA Eastern Cape spokesperson Leander Kruger highlights recent abductions, as threats to safety and tourism. The party urges immediate action to boost security and restore confidence. He warns that unchecked crime could severely impact the region’s tourism-driven economy:

# Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to present a “plan for victory” in the country’s war with Russia to president Joe Biden, Congress and the two presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. He is expected to ramp up efforts to persuade the US and its allies to allow Ukraine to fire missiles into Russian territory for the first time in the war. Zelensky’s visit to the US this week coincides with efforts from the White House to prepare a new 6.5-billion-rand military aid package for Ukraine.

# Cricket: Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter was disappointed with their ODI series loss to Afghanistan, but remains hopeful that the challenging conditions will benefit the inexperienced players. The Proteas bounced back in Sunday’s dead rubber with a seven-wicket win against Afghanistan to secure a consolation victory. Walter hopes that the new crop of players will cope better with spin, with an eye on next year’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan, scheduled from 19 February to 9 March.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-30-cents and the euro at 19-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-7-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-280-dollars-38-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-627-dollars-70-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-56-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….