News 18:00

BULLETIN 20 August 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Increasing veld fires threaten farms and food prices
# Rugby: The Boks will start their November tour against Japan at Wembley
# And a historic Swedish church is relocated to make way for the expansion of a mine

# FNB Agriculture head of information and marketing, Dawie Maree, says the frequency of veld fires in South Africa is increasing, causing severe damage to farms. Speaking to Engineering News, Maree says farmers across KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the Free State, the Western Cape, the Karoo, and Gauteng face destroyed crops, livestock, grazing land, and infrastructure, driving up production costs. Maree urges proactive fire management, insurance, and collaboration with fire protection associations. He warns that ongoing veld fires could push food, particularly meat, prices higher amid rising inflation.

# AfriForum has filed an internal appeal after the South African Police Service ignored its Promotion of Access to Information Act application on the use of private security at police stations. The organisation says four months of silence raises serious concerns as the government considers regulations that could weaken the private security sector. AfriForum’s Jacques Broodryk warns the matter will go to the Information Regulator to force disclosure if the police don’t respond within 30-days:

# The DA says only 21-percent of social grant reviews in the Western Cape have been completed, leaving many beneficiaries at risk of losing access to social assistance. The party says more staff, better resources, self-help kiosks, and decentralised services are needed to speed up reviews and protect vulnerable citizens. The DA’s Wendy Kaizer-Philander calls on the national Department of Social Development to work closely with provincial offices and ensure timely grant reviews:

# Rugby: The Springboks will start their November tour of Europe with a historic Test against Japan at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium on 1 November. This will be the first rugby match at the famous soccer venue since 2016, when the Boks and the Barbarians played to a thrilling 31-all draw. The Boks won their last two encounters against Japan, both in 2019, following the ‘Miracle of Brighton’ in 2015, which saw the Brave Blossoms claim a 34-32 victory in the opening game of the World Cup.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-50-cents and the euro at 20-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-83-cents and Bitcoin trades at 112-thousand-811-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-342-dollars-63-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-15-cents a barrel. 

# And finally: A historic red wooden church considered one of Sweden’s most beautiful buildings was moved across the Arctic town of Kiruna to its new home to allow Europe’s biggest underground mine to expand. Kiruna’s entire town centre is being relocated because of the iron ore mine, whose ever deeper burrowing has weakened the ground, increasing the risk of collapse. The imposing 672-tonne Swedish Lutheran church from 1912 was moved five kilometres on remote-controlled flatbed trailers, moving at a snail’s pace of half a kilometre an hour.

Stay tuned for more news………….