News 07:00

BULLETIN 30 June 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Mchunu says the police are not aware of the impending arrest of commissioner Masemola
# Gauteng Health denies reports of a mortuary backlog at the Helen Joseph Hospital
# And cricket:  The Proteas take control on the second day of the first Test against Zimbabwe

# The Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, has noted with concern some media reports speculating about an imminent arrest of the police national commissioner, Fannie Masemola. Ministry spokesperson, Kamogelo Mogotsi says the Police Department is not aware of an impending arrest for Masemola. She says they have also noted the response from the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption on this speculation:

# The Young Intelligent Minds of South Africa has lambasted the ANC and DA, accusing them of running the country like a “Tom and Jerry” cartoon. The group says both parties misunderstand the Government of National Unity’s responsibilities and constitutional powers. It criticised the DA’s National Dialogue withdrawal as political theatre and called for early elections. The youth organisation says South Africans deserve a stable, majority-led government, not the chaos and self-interest currently displayed.

# The DA in Gauteng has raised alarm after Helen Joseph Hospital reportedly failed to transfer deceased patients to government mortuaries for 13 days due to a lack of printer cartridges. DA’s Madeleine Hicklin blames Provincial Health MEC Nomanto Nkomo-Ralehoko for administrative failure, saying it has delayed postmortems and burial arrangements. She calls for urgent intervention, saying families are suffering unnecessary trauma due to the department’s incompetence:

Meanwhile, the Gauteng Department of Health has dismissed the DA’s claims. The department says only one body, declared dead on arrival on 25 June, has been traced to a KwaZulu-Natal family. Printing delays between 17 and 23 June were resolved by 24 June. The department spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba, confirms no outstanding cases are awaiting processing:

# British police say they are reviewing comments made on stage by rap punk duo Bob Vylan at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. Rapper Bobby Vylan took to the festival’s third-biggest West Holts Stage on Saturday, shouting “Free, free Palestine,” before leading crowds to chants against the Israeli military. The Israeli Embassy in the UK said it was deeply disturbed by the incident. It said the rapper’s remarks raised serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence. Glastonbury Festival said in a statement that it was appalled by Vylan’s remarks.

Cricket:  Despite an undefeated 114 from Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams, excellent bowling by Wiaan Mulder, Cody Yusuf, and Keshav Maharaj put the Proteas in command on the second day of the first test at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Sunday.  South Africa declared their first innings closed at the start of the day on 418 for nine. At tea, the hosts were 212 for six wickets and were shortly thereafter dismissed for 251. At stumps on Day two, the Proteas were firmly in control of the Test on 49 for the loss of one wicket after 13 overs. Going into day three, their lead is now extending to 216 runs.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-78-cents and the euro at 20-rand-86-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-40-cents and Bitcoin trades at 108-thousand-781-dollar. Gold sells at three-thousand-272-dollars-81-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-1-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….