News 18:00

BULLETIN 15 August 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# OUTA takes the former CEO of the Johannesburg Property Company o court over the deadly Usindiso fire
# Rugby: South Africa’s Under 18 teams are ready for the International Series finals in Paarl
# And the next generation of cancer drugs could be made in space

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse has launched legal action in the High Court in Johannesburg to have former Johannesburg Property Company CEO Helen Botes declared a delinquent director. The organisation cites her alleged gross negligence in managing the Usindiso building, where a fire killed at least 76 people in August 2023. OUTA’s Stefanie Fick argues Botes abused her position and failed to safeguard public assets, causing harm to residents and the city:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that a citizen-composed steering committee will be elected today to lead the National Dialogue. Speaking at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, Ramaphosa assured the dialogue would be held at minimal cost as cost-cutting measures are being implemented. He praised UNISA for offering its venue free and said future dialogues will use schools, churches, and even outdoor spaces to keep expenses low:

# Union federation Saftu demands public transport reform and an integrated transport network where taxis serve as feeder services, e-hailing is regulated fairly, and commuting is affordable, safe, and reliable. Referring to the murder of an e-hailing driver in Pimville, Soweto, Saftu’s spokesperson, Asive Dyani, says the violence against e-hailing drivers is part of a systematic pattern of intimidation and harassment by certain taxi operators:

# Rugby: The two South African teams are all set for their final matches of the Under 18 International Series in Paarl tomorrow. The coaches made several changes to give more players a chance to play at a higher level. Tomorrow’s action gets underway at 11:30 when the SA Under 18 ‘A’ side takes on France, followed by the clash between Ireland and Georgia. The main event will be the SA Under-18s going head-to-head with England at 3:30 pm, looking for their third victory of the tournament.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-57-cents and the euro at 20-rand-58-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 118-thousand-16-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-341-dollars-28-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-80-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A London-based biotech company, BioOrbit,  is exploring the possibilities of having cancer fighting drugs made in space – where gravity does not interfere with the process of turning drugs into proper crystals. These crystals can then be injected by patients themselves at home, cutting out the need to go to hospital and spending hours for the infusion to happen in liquid form, as would normally be the case. The company says they are preparing the first batch of drugs to be sent to the International Space Station next month.

Stay tuned for more news………….