News 18:00

BULLETIN 11 September 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Presidency urges leaders to engage constructively over the BELA Bill rather than resorting to threats
# The DA urges Ramaphosa to secure private sector backing for next year’s G20 summit in South Africa
# And SA Rugby warns supporters not to buy tickets for the Boks-Pumas clash from dodgy websites

# The Presidency has urged political party leaders to engage constructively over the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill rather than resorting to threats. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is set to sign the bill on Friday, calls for restraint and productive dialogue to maintain the stability of the government of national unity. Briefing the media, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says the bill will be signed into law unless constitutional issues arise, and encourages resolving disputes through democratic channels: 

Meanwhile, the DA urges Ramaphosa to seek private sector support to supplement the government’s 700-million-rand budget to host the G20 summit next year. The party revealed the budget, pending approval, falls short compared to other developing nations like India, which spent around one-billion-rand on their summit. The DA’s Ryan Smith argues that private funding is crucial to avoid straining the national budget and ensure the summit promotes economic growth, job creation, and international trade:

# The Hawks have warned the public to be cautious of human traffickers using the internet to target victims. This comes as the Gauteng legislature revealed over two-thousand cases of human trafficking and kidnapping were reported between January and March. The Hawks’ Paulina Sekgobela highlighted the figures during the launch of a campaign aimed at raising awareness and combating the rising crisis. She called for the strengthening of efforts to address human trafficking in Gauteng:

# The Public Servants Association’s acting deputy general manager, Claude Naiker, says the Employment Services Amendment Bill may reduce the number of foreign nationals employed in South Africa, but does not address the country’s skills shortage. This follows the revelation that six-thousand-220 foreign nationals, including permanent residents and temporary employees, are working in the public sector. Naiker emphasises the need to equip South Africans with the necessary skills and qualifications to compete effectively for jobs, rather than relying on legislation alone.

# Rugby: SA Rugby has warned fans not to buy tickets for the final Rugby Championship Test between South Africa and Argentina from outlets other than Computicket or the Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga’s ticket office. Tickets for the encounter on the 28th of this month are almost sold out. SA Rugby says supporters should be cautious of online websites claiming to have tickets to sell. The match will conclude this year’s competition after the encounter between the All Blacks and the Wallabies earlier that day.

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-94-cents and the euro at 19-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-36-cents and Bitcoin trades at 55-thousand-876-dollars-26-cent. Gold sells at two-thousand-506-dollars-59-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 69-dollars-86-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….