News 17:00

BULLETIN 23 July 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa pledges to build on the sixth administration’s progress
# Former minister Zizi Kodwa’s corruption case has been postponed to 21 August
# And, tennis: Murray will bow out after the Olympics

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says government will build on the progress made by the sixth administration. Delivering the Presidency’s budget vote, he highlighted contributions from the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, the State-Owned Enterprises Council, and Climate Commission. Ramaphosa also commended the National Anti-corruption Advisory Council and the Presidential Working Group on Disability for advancing social and economic change:

# Former Sport, Arts, and Culture minister Zizi Kodwa’s corruption case has been postponed to 21 August at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Gauteng. Kodwa, who stepped down after his arrest, faces allegations of receiving bribes totalling 1.6-million-rand, following state capture report findings. His lawyer, Zola Majola, insists the state must prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt:

# Al Jama-ah has asserted that City of Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda will not resign despite mounting calls from the Joburg Crises Alliance and ActionSA. Opposition councillors argue Gwamanda lacks the qualifications to lead the economic hub. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks praised Gwamanda’s positive interventions for the city:

# South African firms say they recovered quickly from the massive IT outage caused by a faulty CrowdStrike patch on Friday. Capitec, Absa, Safair, Airlink, South African Airways, and the City of Tshwane all resolved their IT issues, reporting no direct financial losses. Both Capitec and Absa are now assessing future risk mitigation measures. Meanwhile, airlines that experienced issues affecting online payments also claim to have recovered and that no major impact was encountered.

# Tennis: Former world number one Andy Murray has announced his retirement, saying the Olympics in Paris would be his final tournament. The 37-year-old won gold in the singles at the 2012 Games in London and again four years later in Rio. He was once regarded as one of the Big Four, together with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, but a slew of injuries limited his Grand Slam titles to just three. Murray plans to play singles as well as doubles at the Olympics.

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-45-cents and the euro at 20-rand-2-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-82-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-446-dollars-46-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-403-dollars-85-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-60-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….