News 17:00

BULLETIN 2 September 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Defence Force is to hold joint Naval exercises with Russia and China in November
# Minister De Lille assures Parliament there’s no crisis in Tourism’s leadership
# And cricket: Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc calls time on his T20 career

# The South African National Defence Force will go ahead with joint naval exercises with Russia and China in November, at the same time as the G20 summit. According to News24, the drills will take place in the Western Cape and are likely to raise more tension with the US, which recently cancelled its last military exercise with South Africa. The SANDF insists the exercises are part of a balanced foreign policy, but the timing has sparked renewed questions over South Africa’s claim of non-alignment in global affairs.

# Tourism minister Patricia de Lille has assured Parliament’s Tourism Committee there’s no crisis at SA Tourism. This follows the appointment of six interim members nominated by the Tourism Business Council to oversee the entity until a new board is named. De Lille says the private and public sectors remain united behind the Tourism Growth Partnership Plan, with an execution lab already set up to monitor and implement its five key pillars:

# The DA urges Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi to explain why 1.7-billion-rand meant for one-thousand-750 new health posts has not increased staffing in public hospitals. The party says hospitals remain critically understaffed, with over 27-thousand vacancies, including two-thousand doctors and 17-thousand nurses. The DA’s Michéle Clarke says there are severe shortages at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban, where surgeries and critical care are heavily affected. Clarke demands a full breakdown of how the money was spent.

# The Road Freight Association has welcomed the fuel price decrease for September. Petrol prices will drop by four-cents per litre for both 93 and 95-octane at midnight. Diesel prices will also fall, with decreases of 56- to 57-cents per litre depending on the sulphur content. Illuminating paraffin wholesale prices drop by 37-cents per litre. The association’s Kevin van der Merwe says this decrease will bring some much-needed relief to the road freight industry:

# Cricket: Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc has announced his retirement from T20 internationals to focus on Test and one-day formats. The 35-year-old has not played a T20 match since last year’s World Cup in the Caribbean. He has featured 65 times for Australia in the shortest format, taking 79 wickets. Starc says looking ahead to an away Indian Test tour, the Ashes and an ODI World Cup in 2027, he feels this is his best way forward to remain fresh and fit.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-72-cents and the euro at 20-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-68-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-252-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-482-dollars-67-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-35-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….