News 18:00

BULLETIN 24 June 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Julius Malema defends the Parliamentary process in the Phala Phala inquiry
# Julius Mkhwanazi denies allegations of cable theft
# And soccer, Orlando Pirates winger Relebohile Mofokeng is on the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 Class of 2026 list

# EFF leader Julius Malema has told Parliament’s impeachment committee probing the Phala Phala matter that decisions have been taken through a democratic process and supported by a majority of members. Malema rejected claims that outcomes were imposed by a parliamentary majority, saying coalition politics requires engagement across parties. He also criticised the Speaker’s handling of legal challenges to the panel report, arguing that Parliament’s interests were not adequately defended:

# Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi has dismissed allegations that he was involved in cable theft in the Vaal Triangle, describing the claims as “pure lies”. Speaking before the Madlanga Commission, Mkhwanazi said he had submitted evidence showing the recovered cables were linked to an operation in Mpumalanga involving stolen infrastructure from Kempton Park. He claims supporting documents, case records and police statements contradict the allegations:

# Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke says municipalities have achieved a 98-percent submission rate of financial statements, marking a major milestone in compliance. Briefing Parliament’s Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Committee, she says only two municipalities failed to submit compared to ten last year. Maluleke warns improvements remain limited due to persistent disclaimer audit findings and weak infrastructure planning. She notes that the Free State and North West still have no clean audits, while the Western Cape accounts for most of the country’s clean audits.

# Soccer: Orlando Pirates winger Relebohile Mofokeng has been named to the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 Class of 2026. The recognition also highlights the strength of Orlando Pirates’ youth development programme. Popularly known as “President Ama 2K”, Mofokeng has been recognised as one of Africa’s most influential young leaders and changemakers. Sports category judge Fatma Samoura described the 21-year-old as one of South Africa’s most exciting young soccer talents.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-60-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-83-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-83-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-68-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-19-dollars-65-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-68-cents a barrel.

# And finally, the Re.Bag.Re.Use initiative is marking World Upcycling Day by celebrating five years of turning bread bags into useful items. The project started in 2021 and now involves 21 women who have upcycled nearly 200-thousand bread bags into items such as bags, mats, hats and home décor, with part of the proceeds supporting local charities. Founder Regine le Roux says the initiative has kept the equivalent of nearly ten baby elephants’ worth of plastic out of the environment.

Stay tuned for more news………….