News 18:00

BULLETIN 27 August 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa strengthens ties with the United States
# Julius Malema is found guilty of hate speech
# And rugby: The Boks arrive in Auckland in high spirits

# South Africa has continued to strengthen ties with the US despite the 30-percent tariff increase imposed. International Relations and Cooperation minister Ronald Lamola says engagements continue at the highest level, and while concerns remain over the tariffs, the bilateral relationship is resilient. He also confirmed that this week, South Africa will host a US congressional staff delegation from the House of Foreign Affairs Committee:

Lamola has also confirmed South Africa’s continued military and technical support to the United Nations’ mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is despite ongoing clashes between M23 rebels and DRC forces. Lamola stressed that peace must be African-led and inclusive of all local actors. He also reiterated South Africa’s role in peace efforts in South Sudan and Sudan, urging an unconditional cessation of hostilities to address worsening humanitarian crises:

# The DA welcomed today’s Western Cape Equality Court ruling, finding EFF leader Julius Malema guilty of hate speech. They commend the South African Human Rights Commission for holding Malema accountable for the Brackenfell High School incident in Cape Town in 2022, where violence broke out and he told supporters to seek revenge against a white person. Party leader John Steenhuisen says Malema’s repeated incitement of violence and racial division threatens South Africa’s democracy. Steenhuisen urged all political leaders to act responsibly and reject hate speech.

The DA also says it has confirmed that Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya will arrange repayment of about 270-thousand-rand, overpaid during her tenure as a city official. The DA’s Jacqui Uys said they had sought clarity since January and most officials have already settled undue payments. She says Moya has confirmed she has not yet paid the money back to the city:

Rugby: The Springboks arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, close to midnight local time in high spirits and excited about the challenge of facing their arch-rivals, the All Blacks, in back-to-back Rugby Championship Tests in the coming weeks. The Boks made the long journey from South Africa to Auckland via Sydney, Australia, and will have a gym session and recovery day tomorrow before taking the field for their first training session on Friday. The Boks face the All Blacks at Eden Park next Saturday, and in Wellington a week later.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-76-cents and the euro at 20-rand-58-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-89-cents and Bitcoin trades at 112-thousand-552-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-383-dollars-36-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-12-cents a barrel. 

Stay tuned for more news………….