News 13:00

BULLETIN 7 July 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The GOOD Party says Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi must be protected as a whistleblower
# Soccer: Banyana Banyana is ready to start its Wafcon title defence against Ghana tonight
# And the White-winged Flufftail is downlisted from critically endangered to endangered in South Africa

# The GOOD Party says the explosive allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi demand immediate and independent investigation by senior officials within the police and the National Prosecuting Authority. Mkhwanazi has made allegations of political interference in high-profile cases, and corruption. GOOD’s secretary general, Brett Herron, says the commissioner must be protected as a whistleblower:

Meanwhile, RISE Mzansi says it is deeply concerned about the allegations made by Mkhwanazi. Spokesperson Makashule Gana says president Cyril Ramaphosa and national police commissioner Fannie Masemola must brief the nation on their knowledge of the allegations and the action that will be taken:

# Eskom says Unit 4 at Medupi power station in Limpopo is back online, eight months before schedule. The unit had been out of service since 8 August 2021 when it sustained significant damage from the explosion of its generator stator, a key component in the operation of the generation unit. Eskom’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says the unit is adding 800-megawatts to the grid as part of its strategic objective to deliver two-thousand-500-megawatts of generation capacity.

# Soccer: Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says they are ready to begin their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title defence against Ghana in Morocco this evening. South Africa, ranked second in Africa, also plays Mali and Tanzania in Group C. The Ghanaians return to the women’s continental competition after an absence of seven years. Ellis says they are in a tough group, but she is confident in her players:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-77-cents and the euro at 20-rand-84-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-13-cents and Bitcoin trades at 108-thousand-845-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-308-dollars-56-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The White-winged Flufftail, one of Africa’s most elusive and threatened birds, has been downlisted from critically endangered to endangered in South Africa. This comes as a result of significant advances in understanding the biology, breeding range, and habitat preferences of the secretive flufftail. BirdLife South Africa CEO, Mark Anderson, says with Ethiopia having sufficient habitat to support only 55 breeding pairs, South Africa plays an important role in preventing the extinction of the species.

Stay tuned for more news………….