News 16:00

BULLETIN 20 July 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Andy Burnham is appointed as Britian’s new prime minister
# Police is confident in a strong case against Matlala
# And rugby: The All Blacks close the gap on the Springboks after beating Ireland

# Andy Burnham is the new British prime minister after being invited to form a government by King Charles at Buckingham Palace. Burnham accepted the request after Keir Starmer formally resigned this morning. Burnham became Labour leader on Friday and is the fifth British prime minister in four years. He delivered his first official address outside 10 Downing Street:

Back home:

# Police say the state has a strong case against businessman Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala and his co-accused at the High Court in Johannesburg. They face eleven counts of attempted murder linked to three separate shootings. Present in court was media personality Tebogo Thobejane, who survived an assasination attempt alongside her 18-year-old friend on the N1 near Sandton. The friend was left permanently disabled. Police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe says justice must prevail:

# AfriForum is ready to challenge the renaming of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape to Robert Sobukwe Town at the High Court in Pretoria. The Sport, Arts and Culture Department and the South African Geographical Names Board intend to oppose the application. AfriForum’s Alana Bailey argues the name change is unconstitutional and fails to protect the town’s 240-year historical and cultural heritage. She warns of harm to tourism and the local economy:

# The Department of Home Affairs scrapped the requirement for medical reports for permanent residence applications and temporary residence visa applications submitted from within South Africa. The waiver, signed by minister Leon Schreiber, took effect immediately after being gazetted on Friday. Applicants applying for temporary residence visas from outside the country must still submit medical reports. Schreiber says the move will reduce delays and simplify the immigration application process while maintaining public health safeguards.

# Rugby: The All Blacks closed the gap on the Springboks on top of the world rankings after Saturday’s convincing 40-21 Nations Championship victory over third-placed Ireland in Auckland. South Africa didn’t earn as much points for their 43-0 dribbing of Wales, who improves to 11th place today, leaving Italy in 12th position after losing to the Wallabies. France is now fourth after beating Japan, followed by England, Scotland, Argentina, Australia, and Fiji, while Japan rounds off the top-ten.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-48-cents and the euro at 18-rand-82-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-17-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-654-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-11-dollars-83-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 86-dollars-65-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….