News 12:00

BULLETIN 24 July 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa wins an interim interdict against the impeachment process
# The US military attacks Iran for the 13th consecutive day as Tehran continues to retaliate
# And Cape Town earns a place among the most beautiful cities in the world

# The Western Cape High Court has granted president Cyril Ramaphosa an interim interdict halting Parliament’s Section 89 impeachment inquiry. In a split decision, the full bench ruled the impeachment committee must suspend its proceedings pending the outcome of the review application challenging the legality of the independent panel report into the Phala Phala matter. Judge André le Grange says the committee may not continue with public hearings until then:

# The DA says the resignation of Public Investment Corporation board chairperson David Masondo is not enough to restore confidence in Africa’s largest asset manager. This followed the precautionary suspension of CEO Patrick Dlamini and the resignation of six non-executive directors. The DA’s Andrew Bateman says new directors will be required to chart a difficult course to restore confidence, and the governance framework that allowed this crisis to develop must be reformed:

Moving abroad:

# The US military completed the 13th consecutive night of strikes against Iran, with reports claiming four people were killed. The US Central Command says it targeted Iranian military command centres, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites, and maritime capabilities. It says this will further diminish the threat Tehran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. In retaliation, Iran launched attack drones at US targets in Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base and Jordan’s Al-Azraq Air Base.

# 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 and a new-look back row. Keira Snyman will make her first appearance on the left wing. Groepes says improving squad depth is one of their priorities:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-84-cents and the euro at 19-rand-17-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-45-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-322-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-47-dollars-41-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-52-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Cape Town has earned itself a place among the globe’s most beautiful places to stay. A global study has ranked the Mother City as the eighth most beautiful destination for design-led accommodation, the highest-ranked in Africa and placing it among some of the planet’s most sought-after travel experiences. The research analysed luxury accommodation listings across more than 200 international tourist destinations. Bali claimed top spot, followed by Paris and California’s Yucca Valley. The impressive top ten also includes London, Los Cabos, Saint Barthelemy and Hawaii.

Stay tuned for more news………….