News 12:00

BULLETIN 17 July 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Hlabisa says government is considering fast-tracking the Coalitions Bill ahead of the elections
# The Gauteng pork industry has lost over ten-million-rand due to African swine fever
# And motorsport: Norris is on the back foot with his 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix

# Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, says government is considering fast-tracking the Municipal Structures Amendment Bill in time for November’s local government elections to ensure post-election stability. The legislation, also known as the Coalitions Bill, seeks to provide a legislative framework to guide the formation and management of coalition governments, and provide systems to minimise the challenges of coalitions within the local government sphere. Hlabisa says the bill will also address the unscrupulous manipulation by parties with less represention to dictate the functioning of councils.

# Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Agriculture and Rural Development MEC, Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, says the provincial pork industry has lost over ten-million-rand following seven outbreaks of African swine fever in Tshwane since November last year. Over 69-thousand pigs have been affected in commercial and smaller-scale farming operations, with approximately 60-thousand culled. The DA’s Bronwynn Engelbrecht says African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease point to broader weaknesses in provincial animal health preparedness:

# Finance union SASBO has expressed concern at African Bank’s plans to possibly cut one-thousand-200 jobs and close 900 branches, to ensure its sustainability. Last month, the bank posted a 624-million-rand loss for the half-year ended March, as its cost base surpassed its risk-adjusted revenue. SASBO doesn’t support the premature publication of information concerning potential job losses when meaningful consultation and engagement with organised labour have not yet taken place.

Moving abroad:

# US president Donald Trump claims China sought to meddle in the 2020 election to prevent him from winning. This is despite US intelligence agencies concluding in a declassified report in 2021 that China considered trying to influence the outcome, but chose not to out of fear of upsetting relations. Trump alleges China also illegally acquired 220-million US voter files, calling it the largest compromise of election data in history:

# Motorsport: Reigning Formula One world champion, Lando Norris, will take a ten-place grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix after exceeding the permitted number of power unit allocations. His McLaren will be fitted with a new power unit, his fourth this season, which is one more than is permitted without penalty. Norris will start Sunday’s race no higher than 11th on the grid, but says the upgrades they introduced will hopefully make a difference:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-47-cents and the euro at 18-rand-84-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-781-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-993-dollars-60-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-64-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….