News 09:00

BULLETIN 24 June 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA says political violence has no place in a constitutional democracy
# An investment of over two-trillion-rand is needed for a new generation capacity
# And the British government won’t make any major spending commitments until a new prime minister is elected

# ActionSA has condemned the killing of councillors and candidates during the voter registration weekend, saying political violence has no place in a constitutional democracy. A DA by-election candidate was killed in Cape Town, while an ANC ward councillor was gunned down in Gqeberha. Two MK Party members were shot dead in Bekkersdal, Gauteng. ActionSA’s Dereleen James says voter registration weekends are meant to strengthen democracy by allowing citizens to register and prepare to participate in upcoming elections:

# Minister of Electricity and Energy, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, says as the country moves towards decarbonisation and the establishment of the green economy, investment required for new transmission lines stands at 440-billion-rand. The government has set a target of 102 gigawatts of new generation capacity in addition to the 14-thousand-500 kilometre of transmission lines that need to be built to expand the grid. Ramokgopa says investment needed for new generation capacity is around 2.2-trillion-rand. He adds what government is doing in the energy sector constitutes 30-percent of the country’s economy.

# The Freedom Front Plus supports the City of Ekurhuleni’s budget following amendments, corrections and binding commitments from the ANC-led administration in the interest of residents. The budget was passed during a special council meeting yesterday, following three failed attempts. The FF Plus’s Jennifer Glover says previous versions had unrealistic assumptions, documentation errors and exorbitant tariffs. She says the revised budget includes a reduction in the proposed property tax increase, from two- to 1.5-percent:

Moving abroad:

# Ten Downing Street says government won’t make any new policy announcements or spending commitments until a new prime minister is in place. This follows Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister and Labour Party leader. The party’s governing body will set out a timetable to replace Starmer, with nominations opening on 9 July and ending a week later. Andy Burnham is regarded by many as the frontrunner to replace Starmer. Government says policies currently underway will proceed as usual, which includes the long-awaited defence investment plan.

# Tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner of Italy and former top player Novak Djokovic of Serbia return to competition for the first time since the French Open. They will play in the exhibition Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic in Hurlington, England, as part of preparations for Wimbledon, which starts on Monday. Sinner and Djokovic will join other star players such as another Italian Flavio Cobolli, local player Cameron Norrie, American Ben Shelton, and Russian Karen Khachanov. Sinner’s first match is against Norrie today, and Djokovic will face Khachanov.             

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-58-cents and the euro at 18-rand-84-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-87-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-542-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-55-dollars-14-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-19-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….