News 08:00

BULLETIN 15 July 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa will decide on minister Nkabane soon
# The body of a suspected poacher is found in the Kruger National Park
# And the US sells weapons to NATO to help Ukraine

# The Presidency says the matter involving Higher Education and Training minister, Nobuhle Nkabane, remains a top priority on president Cyril Ramaphosa’s action item list. The minister is accused of corruption, misconduct, and misleading Parliament over the Sector Education and Training Authorities board appointments. This has sparked public outrage and legal and parliamentary scrutiny. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says the president has been given a report on the matter, and the issue should come to some form of conclusion soon.

# The DA has requested quarterly reports from the National Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration, which must show clear progress in identifying ghost workers and cutting excessive state-owned enterprises’ executive pay. Fake employees cost taxpayers millions of rands each year. The DA’s Leah Potgieter says ghost worker schemes are not just wasteful, they are often linked to broader corruption involving officials who may also be looting other parts of the state:

# The body of an alleged rhino poacher was found in the Kruger National Park at the weekend. It is suspected that he could have been shot during a shootout with Field Rangers. South African National Parks spokesperson, Reynold Thakhuli, says the discovery was made after three field rangers who were on patrol came across three suspected poachers. He says the rangers ordered the trio to stop, but the alleged poachers responded by opening fire at the rangers, who shot back:

# President Donald Trump says that under a new deal that has been agreed, America will sell top-of-the-line weapons to NATO members, who will then supply them to Ukraine. Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Kyiv has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes. Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump promised additional Patriot systems would arrive in Ukraine within days, funded by Germany and other NATO partners:

# Soccer: Defending champions Banyana Banyana beat Mali 4-0 to finish top of Group C in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. Lebohang Ramalepe opened the scoring in the fourth minute, with captain Refiloe Jane doubling the lead in the first half. Hildah Magaia scored the third goal in the 60th minute, and substitute Ronnel Donnelly rounded off the scoring, her first senior goal for South Africa. Coach Desiree Ellis’ side will face Senegal in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-87-cents and the euro at 20-rand-87-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-1-cent and Bitcoin trades at 117-thousand-458-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-354-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-29-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….