News 07:00

BULLETIN 21 June 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa warns of the global fallout from the Israel-Iran conflict
# The Independent Police Investigative Directorate struggles to clear its case backlog amid a shortage of investigators
# And, Eskom says the power system remains stable

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran is having a devastating global impact, including rising fuel prices, economic instability, and the loss of lives. Ramaphosa warned that the world has become a more dangerous place due to the escalating tensions. He urged both countries to stop the attacks and resolve their differences, citing that peace-making is the only path to prevent a wider crisis:

Meanwhile, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says the escalating confrontation is quickly reaching the point of no return. Iran and Israel have been at war for eight days after Israel launched a massive wave of strikes on its arch-rival, triggering an immediate response from Tehran. Erdogan says fingers must be removed from the triggers and buttons before more destruction, bloodshed, civilian casualties, and terrible disaster occur, which could affect the region, as well as Europe and Asia for years to come.

# The Independent Police Investigative Directorate is battling a crippling backlog of over 15-thousand unresolved cases. With over five-thousand complaints in two years, calls for swift, transparent accountability grow as public trust in policing declines. IPID spokesperson Lizzy Suping told SABC News that only 168 investigators are operational nationwide, forcing the recruitment of retired detectives to assist:

# Eskom says the power system remains stable and continues to demonstrate resilience in response to increased electricity demand. Eskom spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says sufficient emergency reserves are in place and are strategically deployed to support demand during morning and evening peak periods. She says to further enhance grid stability, the power utility plans to return a total of two-thousand-730-megawatts of generation capacity to service ahead of the evening peak on Monday:

# Former Zambian president Edgar Lungu will be buried in South Africa following a dispute between his family and Zambia’s government. Lungu died earlier this month in a South African hospital, and the repatriation of his remains to Zambia was halted on Thursday. Family lawyer Makebi Zulu said Lungu’s family opposed president Hakainde Hichilema’s attendance at the funeral, aligning with their wishes for a private ceremony. On Thursday, in a televised address to the nation, Hichilema canceled the 16-day national mourning declared earlier. He said the country cannot afford a state of indefinite mourning.

# And soccer: Next week’s Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers in Jordan will now be played in Qatar next month. The postponement and relocation were decided on because of the conflict between Israel and Iran, which led to the closure of airspace. The qualifiers for the rest of the competition will go on as scheduled, and the draw for the finals will be done at the end of next month. Twelve teams will participate in the tournament, taking place in Australia in March next year.

Stay tuned for more news………….