News 06:00

BULLETIN 8 July 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Business Leadership South Africa rejects Eskom’s claims of political interference
# A French court paves the way for Marine Le Pen to run in the 2027 presidential race
# And rugby: The Junior Boks beat Wales to make it to the Junior World Championship semifinals

# Business Leadership South Africa has rejected claims by Eskom board chairperson Mteto Nyati that its advocacy on electricity transmission reforms amounts to political interference. The organisation argues that separating the utility’s transmission assets is in line with government policy and is essential to improve governance, remove conflicts of interest and attract investment. In her weekly newsletter, CEO Busisiwe Mavuso said agreed policy on electricity market reforms and transmission unbundling should be implemented without delay.

# The Constitutional Court upheld a ruling by the Western Cape High Court that found certain provisions of the Refugee Act unconstitutional and invalid. The case was brought by the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, Lawyers for Human Rights, and other organisations. The court found that any person seeking asylum cannot be denied access to the system simply for failing to provide the required documents or to report to a refugee reception office within the stipulated five-day window. The court reaffirmed that every asylum application must be assessed on its individual merits.

# Action Society says the 292 births recorded among girls aged 10- to 14-years in the Western Cape between April and December last year should each trigger a criminal investigation. The organisation says every child pregnancy must be treated as a child protection case to determine whether sexual abuse or exploitation occurred. Action Society’s Juanita du Preez says children should be protected long before they become pregnancy statistics:

# The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements has condemned an alleged assassination plot targeting a senior official who was reportedly working to stop corruption involving the illegal sale of government-subsidised houses. The department says two suspects, including one of its administrative clerks, have been arrested by the Hawks. The department’s Tahir Sema says housing allocations and subsidy approvals from the Ekurhuleni regional office have been temporarily suspended pending an internal audit:

# France’s far-right National Rally party leader, Marine Le Pen, has been cleared to stand for next year’s presidential elections. This comes after the Paris Appeal Court upheld her conviction of embezzling funds from the European Parliament, but shortened her sentence. The court has reduced her political ineligibility from five years to 45 months, of which she has already served 30 months. Le Pen will serve the remaining year under house arrest with an electronic bracelet. Four other party members were also convicted of the misappropriation of public funds.

# Rugby: The Junior Springboks remain on course for a third World Rugby Junior World Championship title, following their 52-33 victory over Wales to book a spot in the semifinals in Tbilisi, Georgia. The South Africa Under-20 side outscored the Welsh by eight tries to five, with captain Siphosethu Mnebelele and Liam van Wyk each crossing the line twice. The Junior Boks will play England, and New Zealand will play France in the Championship semifinals on Monday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-30-cents and the euro at 18-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-579-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-101-dollars-25-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-33-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….