News 11:00

BULLETIN 23 July 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The National Treasury defends its decision to withhold municipal funds
# Saftu urges the Monetary Policy Committee not to hike the interest rate
# And soccer: Motsepe will not seek a third term as president of the African governing body in 2029

# National Treasury has defended its decision to temporarily withhold July’s equitable share transfers of 13.5-billion-rand from 69 municipalities over poor financial management, saying it complied with constitutional and legislative prescripts. The Financial and Fiscal Commission questioned the lawfulness of the decision. Deputy director-general in the Treasury’s office of the general counsel, advocate Empie van Schoor, says conditional grants can be withheld by the executive, but are subject to Parliament’s approval.

# Union federation Saftu urges the South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee not to respond to the five-percent increase in annual inflation by hiking the repo rate today. The central bank raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to seven-percent in May following February’s oil price shock. Saftu’s Asive Dyani says the country is not obliged to follow a narrow monetary policy orthodoxy that places inflation above every other developmental objective:

# Acting police commissioner Puleng Dimpane has applauded Gauteng police and the Ekurhuleni Metropolice for intercepting a suspected cash-in-transit robbery gang before they could execute their plans. The gang is believed to be linked to several serious and violent crimes across the province. Spokesperson Athlenda Mathe says law enforcement officers descended on a house in Daveyton on the East Rand, where they recovered seven rifles, a pistol, reflector jackets and a hijacked BMW X5:

Moving abroad:

# Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis struck two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea, days after announcing a naval blockade on Saudi vessels. The attacks were carried out using several ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree says they will continue their naval operations against Saudi Arabia and persist in enforcing a siege for a siege equation. Saudi Arabia’s Transport General Authority says these attacks constitute a violation of international law and conventions that guarantee the safety of commercial vessels and their crews.

# Soccer: African governing body CAF’s president, Patrice Motsepe, says he has no intention of seeking another term after serving eight years at the helm. The mining tycoon and former Mamelodi Sundowns president took over in March 2021 and was re-elected for a second term last year. His second term ends in 2029. Motsepe says CAF has more than enough capable individuals who can take over from him:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-40-cents and the euro at 18-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-751-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-118-dollars-60-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-15-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….