News 18:00

BULLETIN 9 September 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The former minister of Defence Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula disputes the link between her home renovations and alleged bribes
# GIWUSA says the latest GDP figures expose the structural fragility of the South African economy
# And, an AI safety researcher warns of a threat to humanity

# Former Defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has told the High Court in Pretoria that renovations to her Bruma home began in 2004, years before the state’s alleged kickback period. She says upgrades continued until 2018. The state alleges about 1.8-million-rand in cash was paid to an interior decorator for furnishings and renovations using proceeds from alleged bribes. Mapisa-Nqakula denies the link, saying she cannot recall all the renovation dates. The prosecution is presenting evidence relating to cash payments and renovations to her Johannesburg home.

# The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa says it is concerned by the decline in gross domestic product in the second quarter of this year. GDP declined 0.2-percent in quarter two, after recording 0.4-percent growth in the first quarter. GIWUSA president Mametlwe Sebei says that while apologists for capital will point to the Iran war and global supply chain disruptions, these external factors merely expose the structural fragility of an economy deliberately stripped of its productive defences:

# Education activist Hendrick Makaneta is encouraging young people to consider applying to study at technical and vocational education and training colleges for the 2027 academic year. Applications for TVET colleges close on 30 September. Makaneta says South Africans need to change the way they look at TVET colleges, urging young people to treat colleges as primary choices rather than fallback options:

# A senior researcher at artificial intelligence company Anthropic says there is more than a 10-percent chance advanced artificial intelligence could kill all humans within the next decade. Evan Hubinger, who leads Anthropic’s alignment research, made the assessment after another company researcher resigned over concerns that A-I firms are moving too quickly towards self-improving systems. He says the risk is currently low, but is worried future systems could become capable of improving themselves beyond human control. Anthropic is working to address these risks, but acknowledges there is no complete solution yet.

# Golf: Two-time major champion Jon Rahm has admitted LIV Golf’s uncertain future has created further turbulence. LIV has filed for US bankruptcy protection after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund withdrew its funding. Documents in the petition outline money owed to LIV creditors with the 30 largest unsecured claims. The Spaniard, who tops the list with an unsecured claim of 120-million-rand, refuses to say whether he wants to return to the PGA Tour:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-1-cent against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-64-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-70-cents and Bitcoin trades at 78-thousand-999-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-422-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 102-dollars-53-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….