News 09:00

BULLETIN 25 June 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF is calling for public comment on its draft Electoral Matters Amendment Bill
# The White House asks Congress to approve an additional 1.45-trillion-rand
# And soccer: Broos is full of praise for his Bafana Bafana squad after they reached the knockout stage

# The EFF is urging South Africans to submit comments on its draft Electoral Matters Amendment Bill. The bill seeks to introduce Automatic Voter Registration, ensuring that young people are automatically captured in the voters’ roll from the age of 16. The EFF says the exclusion of millions of eligible voters, particularly young people, from the electoral process, is one of the biggest obstacles to democratic participation in South Africa. It adds that expanding participation in elections is critical to building a more representative, accountable and inclusive democracy.

# Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, says the National Student Financial Aid Scheme administrator has assumed full executive control and has begun stabilising operations. NSFAS was placed under administration last month due to governance instability within the institution. Manamela says NSFAS is projected to support 1.5-million university students and 807-thousand-507 Technical and Vocational Education and Training students across 76 public institutions, at a projected cost of 166.7-billion-rand over the medium term:

# Western Cape premier Alan Winde says the provincial government is committed to working closely with all stakeholders to secure additional funding and support a coordinated disaster recovery effort. This follows severe weather events that affected the province last month, with the cost of damage estimated at nearly nine-billion-rand. Provincial government spokesperson, Regan Thaw, says while damage assessments remain ongoing, initial estimates indicate that the cost of repairs and recovery will exceed the government’s current affordability levels:

# The White House has requested that Congress approve an additional 1.45-trillion-rand in spending, including for the US-Israel war on Iran. The bulk of the funding is earmarked for the Department of Defence for operational costs to rebuild stocks. The funding request submitted by the Office of Management and Budget in the White House also includes around 4.9-billion-rand to bolster security at US embassies and diplomatic outposts in the Middle East and South Asia. Additional funding will also go towards Florida farmers and the Ebola outbreak in Africa.

# Soccer: Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has lauded his team for reaching the World Cup last 32 for the first time in their history, saying it is an amazing achievement. South Africa defeated South Korea 1-0 in Monterrey, Mexico, with Thapelo Maseko’s goal in the second half proving to be the difference. Bafana Bafana will face Canada in Los Angeles on Sunday in the knockout stage. Broos admitted the last 20-minutes of the game were extremely stressful:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-54-cents and the euro at 18-rand-80-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-80-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-848-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-987-dollars-82-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-93-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….