News 18:00

BULLETIN 5 August 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# IPID arrests five suspects including Julius Mkhwanazi over the 2022 murder of Emmanuel Mbense
# Government says it is urgently addressing challenges facing small businesses
# And, Solidarity challenges Media24 over its planned job cuts

# The Independent Police Investigative Directorate has arrested five suspects, including members of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department, the South African Police Service and a private citizen, in connection with the 2022 murder of Emmanuel Mbense. Suspended EMPD deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi is reported to be among those arrested. IPID’s Lizzy Suping says the suspects face charges of murder and defeating the ends of justice and are expected to appear in the Brakpan Magistrate’s Court tomorrow:

# Government says while progress of the Spaza Shop Support Fund is encouraging, it recognises that many small businesses still face challenges that affect their ability to formalise and grow. The 500-million-rand fund is aimed at helping locally-owned spaza shops to formalise their operations, meet regulatory requirements, and enhance their competitiveness. Spokesperson William Baloyi says one of the key barriers has been the delay in obtaining municipal trading permits and licences:

# Trade union Solidarity says Media24 must fully disclose its financial and strategic plans before proceeding with a retrenchment process that could affect up to 126 employees. The union blames the company’s senior management, rather than staff, for its operational challenges. Solidarity’s Pieter Jordaan says this is the fourth retrenchment process at Media24 in three years and has pledged to support affected employees: 

# Pakistan has introduced new restrictions on foreign media, requiring journalists and contributors working for international news organisations to obtain government permission before reporting outside Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Media freedom groups say the rules will make independent reporting more difficult and could delay coverage of major events. The government insists the measures are intended to improve coordination and verify media credentials, not restrict reporting. Pakistan ranks 153rd out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, and journalist organisations are urging authorities to reconsider the new guidelines.

# Cricket: Former South African captain Graeme Smith says the expansion of next year’s men’s one-day World Cup from 10 to 14 teams reflects the continued growth of the international game. The tournament returns to Africa after 24-years, being co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Smith says the expansion allows more nations to compete on the sport’s biggest stage. He adds the vibrancy of the three host nations, the quality of players, and the fan base certainly deserve a world event in the game.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-31-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-84-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-445-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-236-dollars-14-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-18-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….