News 08:00

BULLETIN 30 July 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# An ANC NEC member says Zuma has done a lot of damage to the party
# The Parliament welcomes the court ruling on the EFF’s case on parliamentary rules
# And rugby: SA Rugby is taking proactive steps to improve the Blitzboks

# ANC National Executive Committee member Zuko Godlimpi says former president Jacob Zuma has done a lot of damage to the party. Zuma has been expelled from the ANC after he was found guilty by the national disciplinary committee of contravening section 25 of the ANC constitution. This relates to his proclamation last year December that he would be campaigning and voting for the MK Party. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Godlimpi says the ANC must now rebuild its structures on the ground:

# Parliament has welcomed the recent judgment by the Western Cape High Court, dismissing the EFF’s challenge of parliament’s rules of suspension. Six EFF members, including leader Julius Malema, were charged with misconduct and being in contempt of Parliament when they mounted the stage during president Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation address last year. Their sanction included suspension from parliamentary activities for February this year. Parliament says it remains committed to ensuring parliamentary processes are not disrupted by unparliamentary behaviour.

# Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi says claims that the appointment of Arnold Lesiba Malotana as the head of the provincial Health Department was kept a secret are baseless and malicious. The DA has written to the Public Protector to request an urgent investigation into what it calls the suspicious appointment of Malotana. The premier’s spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, says the provincial government followed all required public service recruitment and selection processes before the appointment of Malotana:

# Protests broke out in several Venezuelan cities yesterday, a day after the authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro was re-elected. The presidential race was marred by accusations of electoral fraud, including opposition witnesses being denied access to the National Electoral Council headquarters as votes were counted. The opposition has disputed Maduro’s declaration of victory as fraudulent, saying its candidate Edmundo González won convincingly with 73.2-percent of the vote. Protestors are calling for the government to fall, saying they want freedom.

# Rugby: SA Rugby president, Mark Alexander, says proactive steps are being undertaken for improvements to support the Springbok Sevens in further Olympic endeavours. The Blitzboks defeated Australia 26-19 to win the bronze medal in Paris. Alexander says the team were underdogs but they showed resilience and a fighting spirit:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-45-cents and the euro at 19-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-72-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-567-dollars-71-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-384-dollars-4-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-61-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….