News 17:00

BULLETIN 24 June 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Siviwe Gwarube says the Safe Schools Protocol is a game changer in fighting school violence
# Gauteng’s MEC for Agriculture urges national coordination to control foot-and-mouth disease
# And motorsport: Alex Dunne becomes the first Irish driver to take part in an F1 weekend in 22 years

# Basic Education minister Siviwe Gwarube says the newly signed Safe Schools Protocol is a game changer in fighting violence in schools. The protocol, developed with the police, aims to link every school to a police station and establish active safety committees. It follows shocking statistics, including 28 school murders in 2023/24. The minister says the protocol marks a shift toward evidence-based, collaborative safety interventions involving teachers, parents, police, and communities:

# Gauteng Agriculture and Rural Development MEC, Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, has called for tighter control on interprovincial animal movement to halt the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. This comes as around three-thousand cattle infected with the disease were vaccinated at Karan Beef’s Heidelberg feedlot in Gauteng. Ramokgopa told SABC News more effort is needed to curb the spread of the disease to enhance the export of red meat and reduce local prices:

# Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke is hosting the 20th summit for G20 auditors-general of Supreme Audit Institutions  in Johannesburg. The meeting aims to strengthen global oversight, transparency, and citizen-focused governance through international collaboration among supreme audit institutions. Maluleke emphasised that unlocking infrastructure funding and bridging skills gaps for sustainable growth should be prioritised:

# Motorsport: McLaren says 19-year-old Alex Dunne will replace Lando Norris for the first practice at the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday. He will be the first Irish driver to take part in an F1 weekend in 22 years. Dunne, who has been a member of the McLaren driver development programme since May last year, leads the Formula 2 championship in his rookie season. Team principal Andrea Stella says it’s great to give him valuable time behind the wheel of an F1 car as part of his development.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-73-cents and the euro at 20-rand-55-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-11-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-80-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-313-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-1-cent a barrel.

# And finally: A British-flagged luxury superyacht that sank off Sicily in August last year, completed its final trip to the Sicilian port of Termini Imerese after recovery crews lifted the Bayesian out of the water. Investigators will now examine the wreckage to determine the cause of the sinking, which killed UK tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others. British investigators found the crew chose the site where it sank as shelter from forecast thunderstorms. Wind speeds of more than 70 knots knocked the vessel over to a 90-degree angle in under 15 seconds.

Stay tuned for more news………….