News 18:00

BULLETIN 26 August 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Justice minister confirms the Khampepe and the Madlanga commissions are fully prepared to start their work
# A DRC prosecutor seeks the death penalty for former president Kabila
# And tennis: Petra Kvitova ends her career after losing in the first round of the US Open

# Justice and Constitutional Development minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has confirmed that both the Khampepe and the  Madlanga commission are fully prepared to begin their work. This follows after the Madlanga commission, tasked with probing alleged police corruption and political interference, announced a postponement of public hearings. Kubayi confirmed the Khampepe commission, investigating attempts to block apartheid-era prosecutions, will start as planned at Johannesburg’s Sci-Bono Centre, while the Madlanga commission’s venue in Pretoria remains unchanged:

# 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 the 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:

# Statistics South Africa’s Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey indicates that housebreaking remains the most prevalent crime in the country. Director Boitumelo Mooketsi reports 1.5-million incidents affected 1.1-million households in 2024/25, with 43-percent reported to police. She revealed that home robbery was the second most common, impacting 213-thousand households, often involving firearms:

Moving abroad:

# The Democratic Republic of Congo’s military prosecutor is seeking the death penalty for former president Joseph Kabila. He is being tried in absentia on charges of war crimes, treason, and backing the M23 rebels. Allegations include murder, torture, rape, and plotting against president Félix Tshisekedi’s government. Kabila, living abroad since 2023, denies the charges and his party calls the trial politically motivated. The case follows the DRC’s 2024 lifting of its death penalty moratorium, citing the need to combat treason and terrorism.

# Tennis: Former world number two Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic called time on her career spanning two decades. The two-time Wimbledon champion played her last professional match against Frenchwoman Diane Parry in the first round of the US Open, losing in straight sets. Thirty-five-year-old Kvitova recently returned to competition after a 17-month maternity break. She won 31 titles during her career, including Wimbledon in 2011 and again three years later.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-63-cents and the euro at 20-rand-55-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 110-thousand-367-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-375-dollars-14-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-53-cents a barrel. 

Stay tuned for more news………….