News 09:00

BULLETIN 12 July 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The FF Plus says it is ready to help fix the collapsed public healthcare sector
# Stats SA says concerns about the 2022 census are unfounded
# And Biden dismisses concerns about his health

# The Freedom Front Plus says the country’s political landscape offers it the opportunity, through its participation in the government of national unity, to help fix the public healthcare sector. The total budget allocated for health in 2024/2025 amounts to 62.2-billion-rand. FF Plus’, Philip van Staden, says changes need to be made to the management and administration of the Department of Health, and policies need to be reviewed. He adds that mismanagement and corruption have crippled public healthcare institutions:

# Statistic South Africa says concerns raised by scientists on the country’s 2022 census are unfounded and misleading. The Medical Research Council released a report saying the census is flawed and cannot be relied on for allocating budgets. Scientists say the 2022 population estimate of 62-million was one-million people too high, and there were material discrepancies at the municipal level. Stats SA says the accuracy of the numbers in the census has been validated by local and international statistics experts, under the supervision of the Statistics Council.

# The City of Cape Town has welcomed the Supreme Court of Appeal’s rejection of a bid to strike down the legal right of landowners to protect their property from unlawful occupation. The city says the EFF and the South African Human Rights Commission have been trying to prevent it from taking action against illegal occupiers of municipal land, without a court order. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the continued protection of public land by the city has been acknowledged as lawful by the court:

# US president Joe Biden has dismissed concerns about his health, saying he remains the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in November. There is a growing list of Democratic officials calling for him to step aside after a stumbling debate performance last month fuelled concerns over his health. Biden says he does not need to undergo cognitive testing, as he remains in good shape to lead the country:

# Soccer: Former Bafana Bafana coach Stanley Tshabalala has passed away at the age of 75. He succumbed to the injuries he suffered when he was shot during a burglary at his home in Centurion, Tshwane, in March this year. Tshabalala was the first Bafana Bafana head coach when South Africa was readmitted into international soccer in 1992. He also served as Mamelodi Sundowns coach and has gone on to occupy various prominent positions within Orlando Pirates since 2008.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-99-cents and the euro at 19-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-23-cents and Bitcoin trades at 56-thousand-895-dollars-2-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-409-dollars-54-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-55-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….