News 15:00

BULLETIN 4 August 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A police ballistic analyst is cleared on two internal charges and found guilty on two other charges
# The Tshuma family who were murdered in Britain are laid to rest in Zimbabwe
# And rugby: The All Blacks regard the tour opener against the Stormers as a proper Test

# A police disciplinary committee has found senior forensic ballistics analyst Laurence Makgotloe guilty on two charges linked to the Armand Swart murder investigation. The engineer was murdered in Gauteng in April 2024. SABC reports Makgotloe was found guilty of dishonesty for issuing a corrected ballistic report, altering correction dates, and failing to use available resources to identify a firearm. He was cleared on two other charges. Makgotloe has been suspended without pay for a month while his separate criminal case continues in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court.

# The Motor Industry Staff Association has questioned whether the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide will deliver meaningful change. The statutory body is mandated to provide strategic leadership on the elimination of GBVF. It is also charged with coordinating a multi-sectoral and inter-sectoral approach towards the implementation of the national strategy addressing GBVF. MISA spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola says they are concerned that organised labour is not represented on the council:

# The National Union of Mineworkers raised concerns over president Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval of the first phase of the Eskom Restructuring Task Team’s report. The union’s Khangela Baloyi says it is against plans to establish an independent Transmission System Operator, warning the move could threaten jobs, weaken public ownership, and increase private sector influence. He says government must first resolve Eskom’s municipal debt challenges and consult organised labour before implementing reforms:

# A Zimbabwean woman and her two daughters who were murdered in Britain last month, are being laid to rest in Bulawayo today. The bodies of Nothabo, Natalie and Nala Tshuma were found in their home in Bedfordshire, England. A post-mortem found they died from blunt force trauma. Tshuma’s husband, Ndodana, was later arrested in Johannesburg after UK authorities sought his extradition. He remains in custody as extradition proceedings continue while he also faces a South African charge.

# Rugby: The All Blacks regard Friday’s tour opener against the Stormers in Cape Town as a fully-fledged Test. It will be the first of four tour matches against South Africa’s United Rugby Championship teams, the others being against the Sharks in Durban, the Bulls in Pretoria and the Lions in Johannesburg. New Zealand will also play three Tests against the Springboks in South Africa, and another in America. Eighthman Wallace Sititi regards the Stormers’ pack as a massive threat which they must respect. Kick-off is at 7pm.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-45-cents and the euro at 18-rand-95-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-13-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-721-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-60-dollars-57-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-40-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….