News 17:00

BULLETIN 27 June 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa rejects the DA’s ultimatums after firing deputy minister Whitfield
# An Israeli court rejects Netanyahu’s request to postpone his corruption hearings
# And motorsport: McLaren’s drivers insist they are free to race each other despite their collision in Canada

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says he will not yield to threats or ultimatums over his constitutional powers to appoint or remove members of the executive. This follows his dismissal of the DA’s Andrew Whitfield as deputy minister of Trade, Industry and Competition for travelling to the US without presidential approval. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya rejected claims of political motives, citing DA leader John Steenhuisen was informed about the decision beforehand:

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile has called for greater youth inclusion in policymaking to help address unemployment, poverty, and inequality. Speaking at the high-level G20 intergenerational roundtable in Sandton, Gauteng, Mashatile pledged to embed youth participation across all G20 presidency priorities, including climate finance, trade, and digital transformation. He urged more investment in skills development, artificial intelligence, and the green economy to create sustainable opportunities for the youth:

# The South African Weather Service has issued a Yellow Level 1 warning for Cape Town for disruptive rainfall, effective until tomorrow night. Disaster Risk Management spokesperson Charlotte Powell says localised flooding may occur, worsening impacts from earlier storms due to saturated ground. City services are responding with flood kits, and humanitarian aid. Powell confirmed that seven fire stations are accepting donations to support affected residents with essentials like blankets and hygiene packs:

# An Israeli court has rejected prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to postpone testifying in his corruption trial after US president Donald Trump asked for the case to be cancelled. Netanyahu’s lawyer asked the court earlier to excuse the leader from hearings over the next two weeks, saying he needed to concentrate on security issues after Israel’s war with Iran. Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than 4.6-million-rand’s worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours.

# Motorsport: McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri insist they are free to race each other despite their collision in the Canadian Grand Prix. Norris ran into the back of his teammate and championship leader’s car in Montreal and retired from the race. Team principal Andrea Stella says he wants better judgment from his drivers. Norris, who is 22 points behind Piastri coming into this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, says the debrief after Canada was good:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-83-cents and the euro at 20-rand-91-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-46-cents and Bitcoin trades at 106-thousand-761-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-358-dollars-54-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….