News 17:00

BULLETIN 26 August 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Statistician General reports a sharp rise in sexual offences and a decline in murders
# The Electoral Commission receives a clean audit for the fifth consecutive year
# And OUTA warns the crisis in SA Tourism signals a rot in state institutions

# Statistician General Risenga Maluleke has revealed a 55.3-percent surge in sexual offences. Households that experienced housebreaking decreased by one-percent, and murders dropped by 11.9-percent. Presenting the Victims of Crime Report in Pretoria, Maluleke said the survey includes unreported crimes often missing from police data. Maluleke says about 73-thousand households reported sexual offences in the past five-years, up from 47-thousand previously:

# The Electoral Commission has received a clean audit from the Auditor-General for the fifth year in a row. The audit covered the commission’s 2024/25 financial statements, including political party funding. Chief Electoral Official Sy Mamabolo says this outcome confirms that the IEC manages public resources responsibly and in line with legal requirements:

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse says Tourism minister Patricia de Lille’s sudden removal of the South African Tourism board signals a troubling erosion of governance in state institutions. According to the organisation, the board, which was tackling serious misconduct by CEO Nombulelo Guliwe, was removed for technical reasons, leaving the sector vulnerable. OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage says the move has created instability in the tourism sector:

# The Constitutional Court has dismissed the Lungu family’s application for a direct appeal against a full bench judgment affirming the Zambian government’s right to repatriate former President Edgar Lungu for a state funeral. The court found that the family had not made a sufficient case for a direct route, meaning the established legal process will proceed without bypassing appeal protocols. This decision clears the way for government plans to proceed, despite the family’s objections.

# Rugby: Lock Will Skelton will miss the Wallabies’ two Rugby Championship matches against Argentina after opting to return to his French club, La Rochelle, for the start of the Top 14 season. It’s not sure yet whether he will return Down Under for the two Bledisloe Tests against New Zealand. The Wallabies are currently second on the log behind the All Blacks after mixed results against the Springboks in South Africa. Skelton is described as an important player for Australia’s hope to clinch the championship.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-66-cents and the euro at 20-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-79-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-982-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-371-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-25-cents a barrel. 

Stay tuned for more news………….