News 17:00

BULLETIN 2 July 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Fikile Mbalula praised South Africans for rejecting the shutdown call on 30 June
# The Constitutional Court orders Cape Town to rethink the Tafelberg housing plan
# And rugby: Airlink unveils a special green aircraft livery for the Greatest Rivalry series

# ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says South Africans rejected calls for a nationwide shutdown on Tuesday, with schools, businesses, public transport and clinics continuing to operate normally. Addressing the media, Mbalula thanked citizens for choosing peace and praised law enforcement agencies for maintaining order. He warned that no individual or group should take the law into their own hands:

# The Public Servants Association has expressed outrage at the Council for Medical Schemes’ decision not to approve the Government Employees Medical Scheme’s proposal. GEMS wanted to reduce the average contribution increase from 9.5-percent to 7.5-percent. PSA’s spokesperson, Claude Naicker, says it is particularly disturbed by the statement made by GEMS that it remains committed to affordability and reducing the financial burden on members:

# The Constitutional Court has ruled that the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government must reconsider their plans for the former Tafelberg School site in Sea Point. The court also ordered the province to report on its affordable housing plans and found the public consultation process was inadequate. GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron says the judgment is a major victory for spatial justice and confirms public land should help address inequality:

# An 11-year-old boy is in custody after crashing a pickup truck into a group of monks on a pilgrimage walk in northeastern Thailand. Officials say eight of the group of 35 monks were killed. Five died at the scene, while three others succumbed in hospital. Fourteen others were taken to hospital, with four in a critical condition. Security camera footage shows the monks walking in a single line on the side of a road before the truck crashes into them. The circumstances surrounding the incident is still under investigation.

# Rugby: South Africa’s largest regional airline, Airlink, has unveiled an Embraer E190 jet in a special all-green livery to mark its role as the official domestic airline for the Greatest Rivalry series between the Springboks and the All Blacks. The aircraft was repainted at Airlink’s Polokwane paint facility in Limpopo and features the tour’s official logo. CEO De Villiers Engelbrecht says the plane will transport the two teams between matches and operate on key domestic and regional routes.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-26-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-61-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-72-cents and Bitcoin trades at 59-thousand-542-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-118-dollars-13-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-70-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….