News 07:00

BULLETIN 23 July 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Support for democracy in South Africa and Mali is currently the lowest in Africa
# Minister Hlabisa calls for engagement to enhance municipalities
# And, Kamala Harris lauds president Biden’s legacy

# Support for democracy has declined by seven percentage points in Africa, including by 29 points in South Africa and 23 points in Mali. This is according to a new Afrobarometer survey. The survey shows that less than 37-percent of Africans believe democracy works in their countries. About 53-percent are willing to accept a military takeover if elected leaders abuse their power. Afrobarometer says although several countries, most notably South Africa, remain democratic and free, waning public support for the system if left unchecked, could spell potential problems.

# Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa states that the government of national unity will seek common ground to improve local municipalities. Hlabisa cites poor service delivery due to financial instability, debt, and inadequate infrastructure and resources affecting service delivery. He emphasises that the government will engage with the underperforming coalition and non-coalition municipalities to address these issues:

# RISE Mzansi has committed to serving with honesty and integrity in Parliament for South Africans. The party emphasises seriousness and cooperation with other political parties for the benefit of South Africans, regardless of campaign affiliations. The party urges closer collaboration between the executive and Parliament, demanding accountability from ministers and deputy ministers. In a statement the party vowed to scrutinise executive actions, avoid past mistakes, and focus on a safe, prosperous, equal, and united South Africa.

# Section27 will approach the Johannesburg High Court today to request a postponement of the Cancer Alliance’s case against the Gauteng Health Department. The application centres on the department’s alleged failure to utilise the 784-million-rand allocated by the Gauteng Treasury last year, to address the radiation backlog and other surgical backlogs in the province. Section27’s Pearl Nicodemus says the department, MEC for Health, and the two hospitals that provide radiation oncology services only filed their answering affidavit last week Friday:

# US vice-president Kamala Harris says president Joe Biden’s legacy of accomplishment over the past three years is unmatched in modern history. She spoke at a White House event for college championship teams yesterday, her first public appearance since Biden ended his re-election bid and endorsed her. She has received more than one-thousand endorsements from Democratic delegates. Harris says in one term, Biden has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who have served two terms in office:

# Cricket: USA Cricket and Cricket Chile have 12 months to rectify their non-compliance with the International Cricket Council’s membership rules. The world body put them on notice for not having a fit-for-purpose detailed governance and administrative structure and systems.  The ICC warns it reserves the right to suspend or expel a member for continued non-compliance. The decision was taken during the ICC’s annual conference in Colombo, where it discussed capitalising on the Olympic opportunity when T20 cricket returns to the Games in 2028.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-24-cents and the euro at 19-rand-87-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-59-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-357-dollars-27-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-401-dollars-76-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-51-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….