News 06:00

BULLETIN 1 August 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The High Court in Durban will today hear the ANC’s appeal against the MK Party trademark ruling
# The Air Force investigates leopard attacks on two of its members in Hoedspruit
# And Olympic Games: Three South African swimmers reach the finals

# The Durban High Court will today hear the ANC’s application for leave to appeal the ruling of its trademark case against the MK Party. In April, the court struck down the ANC’s bid for the MK Party to stop using the name and logo of its disbanded liberation-era military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe. The ANC accused the party of violating the Trademarks Act. ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the judge erred in his ruling and did not address the trademark arguments placed before the court but instead dabbled in politics.

# The Independent Police Investigative Directorate can now investigate serious offences by police officers, on or off duty. This after president Cyril Ramaphosa signed the IPID Amendment Act into law. This follows a review of the 2011 IPID Act and a Constitutional Court judgment. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, says the law mandates pre-employment security screenings for IPID staff and expands their powers to include investigations into police-related deaths and rapes:  

# Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has announced the implementation of various units to protect the province’s infrastructure. Delivering his budget vote for the Safety and Security Department, Lesufi announced the establishment of an anti-land invasion unit and a unit protecting Eskom and Rand Water infrastructure. In addition, he also announced the implementation of an anti-cable theft unit and an anti-construction mafias unit:

 # The South African Air Force is investigating two separate leopard attacks on its members at the Air Force Base Hoedspruit in Limpopo. A soldier was attacked while going for a morning jog, and another while walking home in the afternoon. Spokesperson Donavan Chetty says the base lies in the catchment area of the Kruger National Park and wildlife encounters of this kind aren’t uncommon, but not seemingly unprovoked from a nocturnal animal during the day. The two soldiers suffered mostly scratches.

# Iran has vowed to avenge the killing of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed by a strike in Tehran yesterday. Haniyeh had travelled to the Iranian capital for the inauguration of the country’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Hamas and Iran have blamed Israel for the strike. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says they will make sure Israel regrets their cowardly action. The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, believes a wider war can be avoided, despite the threat of revenge:

# Olympic Games: South Africans Tatjana Smith and Kaylene Corbett are through to the women’s 200-metre breaststroke final in Paris. Smith, who finished second in her semifinal, is a step closer to completing a golden double after winning the 100-metre breaststroke earlier this week. Smith’s training partner Kaylene Corbett also finished second in her semifinal just adrift of winner Tes Schouten of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Pieter Coetzé booked his spot in the men’s 200-metre backstroke final after finishing second in the semifinal behind Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-20-cents and the euro at 19-rand-70-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-40-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-688-dollars-68-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-445-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-51-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….