News 18:00

BULLETIN 12 June 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Commissioner Sesi Baloyi probes Traffic Chief Samuel Mashaba on the alleged misuse of police resources
# Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa says provinces continue to face increasing pressures arising from climate change
# And rugby: The Bulls go for a tried and tested group for the United Rugby Championship final

# The Madlanga Commission’s Sesi Baloyi has questioned Gauteng Traffic Police Chief Samuel Mashaba over allegations that he used state resources to check vehicle registration details for businessman Tumelo Nku. Mashaba was responding to questions regarding the Aeroton 700-kilograms of cocaine worth 300-million-rand in his jurisdiction. Baloyi suggested the requests may have formed part of unofficial secondary source of income rather than legitimate police work:

# Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, says provinces continue to face increasing pressures arising from disasters, climate change, and infrastructure backlogs. He says 2.161-billion-rand was allocated in disaster recovery grants to 92 municipalities, and 191.16-million-rand was allocated through the Disaster Response Grant to 16 municipalities. Hlabisa says additional allocations of 151-million-rand to the provincial and 203-million-rand to the municipal are being finalised:

# The Public Servants Association has expressed outrage over reports that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is set to pay approximately 50-million-rand to settle a lease agreement for a Pretoria building that was never occupied. The association’s Claude Naicker says this development represents a serious failure of governance, accountability, and financial management in the department. He says this situation raises critical questions, including who authorised the lease agreement, and what due diligence processes were followed before committing public funds:

# AfriForum has launched an urgent High Court application to challenge the City of Johannesburg’s 65.6-percent increase in its water demand management levy. AfriForum’s Deidré Steffens argues the metro failed to provide adequate justification or methodology for the increase. From 1 July, households could be charged over 107-rand a month regardless of water usage. She emphasised that the lack of transparency undermined meaningful public participation and urges the court’s intervention:

# The Bulls squad travelling to Dublin for next Friday’s United Rugby Championship final reflects a carefully balanced blend of experience, youth, and versatility, positioning the team strongly for the demands of a high-pressure occasion. At its core is a total of 17 Springboks with seasoned internationals such as Willie le Roux, Handré Pollard, Marcell Coetzee, and Kurt-Lee Arendse. They are complemented by an exciting group of emerging talents, including Cameron Hanekom and Cheswill Jooste.  Up front, the composition of the forwards offers both physicality and mobility, while the backline combines control and creativity.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-32-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-88-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-509-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-189-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 88-dollars-47-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….