News 11:00

BULLETIN 24 July 11 am

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa wins the court judgement on the impeachment review
# The UN chief warns the US-Israeli-Iranian war is pushing the Middle East towards the unimaginable
# And rugby: Several changes are made to the Junior Bok Women side for the final match against the US

# The High Court in Cape Town halted president Cyril Ramaphosa’s impeachment hearings pending legal review. More in our next bulletin.

Meanwhile, Ramaphosa says too many municipalities, communities and businesses can no longer rely on safe, reliable water services, threatening public health, economic activity, and social stability. He has released the National Water Action Plan, aimed at securing a reliable water supply and tackling failing municipalities, corruption and infrastructure backlogs. Ramaphosa says the scale of the challenge now demands an urgent national response and a fundamental shift in how water services are managed:

# The Technology Innovation Agency and the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority have signed a partnership to strengthen the innovation, skills and entrepreneurship ecosystem. The agreement aims to better link skills development with technology and business growth through initiatives such as internships, startup support, bursaries and entrepreneurship programmes. The agency’s Titus Mathe says the partnership will help equip young people, women and people with disabilities with the skills needed to create businesses, find jobs and support economic growth.

# The City of Ekurhuleni in Gauteng says at the end of May, its total outstanding creditor balance was approximately eight-billion-rand. About 50-percent related to current invoices that had not yet reached their payment due dates, but the metro only has two-billion-rand in its bank account. Ekurhuleni owes Eskom 5.7-billion-rand, Rand Water 555-million-rand, provincial government departments 293-million-rand, and contractors 669-million-rand. Ekurhuleni says it continues to intensify revenue collection and credit-control measures to improve cash flow and progressively reduce outstanding creditor balances.

Moving abroad:

# United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has warned the escalating conflict between the US and Iran is getting out of control and is pushing the Middle East towards the edge of the unimaginable. Oil prices have risen sharply as US president Donald Trump has threatened he is considering a massive attack against Tehran, on a scale larger than already witnessed. Guterres says the region is being pulled into an ever-widening circle of confrontation:

# Rugby: Junior Springbok Women coach, Hayden Groepes, has made several changes to the side that will take on the USA Women’s Eagles Under20s in the last of their two-match series in Stellenbosch today. The USA won the first match 47-12. Injuries have forced Groepes to make changes, including six to his backline. Keira Snyman will make her first appearance on the left wing. Groepes says improving squad depth is one of their priorities:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-78-cents and the euro at 19-rand-22-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-38-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-658-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-45-dollars-88-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….