News 07:00

BULLETIN 18 June 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Kubayi rejects claims that the government does not support the National Prosecuting Authority
# Iran’s ambassador to Britain says they have no intention of building a nuclear weapon
# And cricket: The Proteas Women clinch the ODI series against the West Indies

# Justice and Constitutional Development minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, has rejected claims that the government does not support the National Prosecuting Authority. The NPA improved its capacity performance from 50-percent in 2020/2021 to 73-percent in 2023/2024, with the increase attributed to better-resourced and more capable organisations. Appearing before the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday, Kubayi said there were lessons to be learned from the failed prosecution of Timothy Omotoso and Moroadi Cholota:

# Road Accident Fund CEO Collins Letsoalo has approached the High Court in Pretoria in an urgent bid to overturn his suspension, citing that his life and that of his family could be in danger if his security is withdrawn. According to News24, Letsoalo argues that he’s received threats during his tenure and fears serious harm. He was suspended after allegedly refusing to attend a Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts meeting, a claim he denies. The matter will be heard next week.

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse has urged Transport minister Barbara Creecy to halt fines for motorists whose driving licence cards are delayed due to a national backlog. A backlog of 700-thousand cards was caused by the breakdown of the only card-printing machine. OUTA’s Stefanie Fick demands a moratorium on penalties for motorists awaiting licence renewals, urging the government to extend the validity of driving licences to ten years:

# The DA has condemned die police after a gang-linked officer caught transporting drugs in a police vehicle received only a two-month suspension. The DA’s Nicholas Gotsell claims Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile approved the reduced sanction, despite a tribunal recommending dismissal. Gotsell calls for a full overhaul of police disciplinary rules and will submit parliamentary questions to expose all reduced sanctions under Patekile’s tenure. He says that this undermines public trust and emboldens corruption within the police.

# Iran’s ambassador to the UK, Seyed Ali Mousavi, has insisted his country has no intention of building a nuclear weapon. US intelligence assessments have found Iran was not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon. This is in stark contrast to the narrative being pushed by Israel that Iran was fast approaching a point of no return in acquiring nuclear weapons. Mousavi told members of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that all of Iran’s nuclear activities are purely peaceful:

# Cricket: The Proteas Women defeated the West Indies by 166 runs in the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in the third and final ODI in Barbados to clinch the series 2-1. Tazmin Brits scored 101, as South Africa’s innings was shortened due to rain interruptions, leading to the visitors posting 278 for six in 45.4 overs. In reply, West Indies were bowled out for 121, well short of the revised target of 294, with Masabata Klaas finishing with career-best figures of four wickets for 25 runs off six overs.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-97-cents and the euro at 20-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-766-dollar-20-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-385-dollars-78-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 76-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….