News 16:00

BULLETIN 21 July 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Investigating Directorate against Corruption disputes Paul O’Sullivan’s referral claim on the Dumisani case
# Research shows climate shocks threaten South Africa’s food businesses
# And soccer: UEFA’s president boycotted the World Cup final over FIFA’s controversial decisions

# The Madlanga commission has heard conflicting accounts over who referred the case against Crime Intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo to the Investigating Directorate against Corruption. Commissioner Sandile Khumalo says investigator Paul O’Sullivan had claimed he referred the matter in November, alongside the Police Ministry. The directorate’s head, Andrea Johnson, confirmed receiving correspondence from the ministry, but could not recall O’Sullivan’s involvement:

# South Africa has secured a 24.78-billion-rand loan from the World Bank to support reforms in the country’s water, electricity and freight transport sectors. The funding will strengthen water infrastructure, expand private investment and improve service delivery to millions of households. It will also support a competitive electricity market and reforms in rail and ports. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says the programme will remove infrastructure bottlenecks, with the reforms expected to help create nearly 600-thousand jobs by 2032.

# A study has found that climate shocks are placing growing pressure on South Africa’s agri-processing sector, threatening food security, jobs and economic growth. According to a group of academic researchers, businesses are battling water shortages, rising temperatures and disrupted raw material supplies. While some have adopted water-saving and energy-efficient measures, many lack funding and technical support. The study calls for climate-focused training, improved infrastructure and greater financial assistance to help food processors adapt to worsening climate conditions and strengthen the country’s food system.

# Soccer: A showdown is looming between world governing body FIFA and European body UEFA over certain decisions during the World Cup. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin confirmed this is why he refused to attend Sunday’s final, when Spain beat Argentina. UEFA is upset over FIFA’s decision to suspend American forward Folarin Balogun’s automatic one-match ban after a red card, which Europe described as crossing a red line. There was also the case of Somalian referee Omar Artin who couldn’t officiate after being denied entry into the US.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-44-cents and the euro at 18-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-2-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-397-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-57-dollars-94-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 88-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Gauteng Health Department says public hospitals have completed 687 surgeries and clinical procedures, passing the halfway point of the one-thousand-326 procedures pledged for this year’s programme. Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital emerged as the top-performing facility in this year’s Mandela Month Surgical Marathon, completing 156 procedures to date. Spokesperson Steve Mabona says participating hospitals have maintained strong momentum throughout the campaign:

Stay tuned for more news………….