News 12:00

BULLETIN 11 June 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Activists and Citizens Forum say South Africa’s townships have become war zones
# South African banks turn to automation to cut costs
# And soccer: Bafana Bafana’s coach acknowledges Mexico is their toughest opponent in Group A

# Civil society movement, the Activists and Citizens Forum, says government and the police need to do more to ensure the safety of South Africans, especially in high-risk crime communities. This follows Tuesday night’s mass shooting in the Jumpers informal settlement in Cleveland, Johannesburg, which claimed the lives of 12 people and left nine injured. The forum’s spokesperson, Dennis Bloem, says black lives have become very cheap and worthless:

# The chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on Police, Ian Cameron, is calling for the suspension of Crime Intelligence head Feroz Khan. He has been implicated in evidence before the Madlanga commission, including allegations of interfering in criminal investigations. Khan is currently out on bail in a case involving precious metals following his arrest together with former Gauteng Hawks chief Ebrahim Kadwa. Cameron says officials alleged to have broken the law must be suspended to protect the integrity of ongoing investigations.

# South Africa’s major banks are increasingly adopting automation to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs. According to banking software provider Avaloq, many banks are seeking to replace complex legacy systems with integrated digital platforms that streamline processes and reduce reliance on large back-office teams. The company says automation can significantly improve transaction processing and support emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. Banks are also under pressure to modernise services while lowering costs amid a continued decline in demand for physical branches.

Moving abroad:

# US president Donald Trump says the military has since last month executed a secret operation to help oil tankers transit the Strait of Hormuz. Normally, about 20-percent of global petroleum supplies pass through the route, but traffic has remained severely limited since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran in February. Trump says the secret operation has resulted in the military helping commercial ships and over 100-million barrels of oil through the strait:

# Soccer: Bafana Bafana’s coach, Hugo Broos, has assured South Africans the team will put up a good fight in tonight’s World Cup opening match against co-host Mexico at Estadio Azteca. The encounter is a rematch of the 2010 group opener, in which the two sides shared the spoils in a 1-all draw in Johannesburg. Broos says the match will be tough, especially playing in front of 85-thousand shouting and singing Mexicans:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-53-cents and the euro at 19-rand-8-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-12-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-749-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-101-dollars-28-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 91-dollars-28-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….