News 15:00

BULLETIN 4 July 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says Austria’s Africa strategy aligns with SA’s growth and reform agenda
# RISE Mzansi calls on the Police Ministry to fix forensic labs
# And Soccer: SuperSport United’s sale to Siwelele FC comes amid a strategic shake-up

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says Austria’s Africa Strategy aligns well with South Africa’s economic growth and structural reform agenda. Welcoming Austrian president Alexander van der Bellen at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Ramaphosa said the two countries share common goals in areas like infrastructure, energy, digitalisation, and climate resilience. He added South Africa remains Austria’s largest trade partner in Africa, with over 70 Austrian companies operating locally:

# The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the Western Cape has condemned the City of Cape Town’s failure to transform its executive leadership, accusing it of maintaining white male dominance and excluding black professionals. Cosatu says the practices violate the Employment Equity Act and reinforce apartheid-era privilege. Spokesperson Zanele Sabela calls for an urgent audit, corrective action and the Human Rights Commission intervention to hold the City accountable:

# RISE Mzansi is calling on the Police Ministry to fix forensic laboratories to reduce the backlog of forensic exhibits. The party says DNA delays mean killers roam free in the country. RISE Mzansi spokesperson, Makashule Gana says the detection rate for murder is 10-percent and that means 90-percent of murderers get away with it. Speaking in the debate on the police’s budget, he said detectives are failing, not because they don’t care, but because the system is broken:

# Hamas says it was holding consultations with other Palestinian movements on a truce proposal in the war with Israel, in a possible sign that it was preparing for negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza. The statement came ahead of a visit on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where President Donald Trump is pushing for an end to the war. The conflict in Gaza began with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel in 2023, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive aimed at destroying Hamas.

# Soccer: SuperSport United have confirmed the sale of their Premiership status to Siwelele Football Club, ending a 31-year era with MultiChoice. The deal, pending Premier Soccer League approval, is seen as part of MultiChoice’s strategy to focus on sports broadcasting amid 2.3-billion-rand in losses and 1.2-million DStv subscriber cancellations. SuperSport CEO Rendani Ramovha says the shift supports innovation. Meanwhile, Siwelele chair Calvin le John says they plan to honour SuperSport’s legacy built over 30 years.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-62-cents and the euro at 20-rand-75-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-4-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-56-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-335-dollars-53-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-95-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….