News 09:00

BULLETIN 21 July 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Magashule says minister Mchunu should have been requested to step aside
# Gauteng Health rejects misleading Sunday Times article about appointments to hospital boards 
# And Japan’s prime minister vows to stay in power despite election loss

# African Congress for Transformation leader, Ace Magashule, has criticised the ANC’s step aside rule. He says Police minister Senzo Mchunu should have been requested to step aside from his roles in the ANC and Parliament. The minister has been placed on special leave after KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, accused him of being linked to criminal gangs and interfering in police investigations. Magashule says there is a selective application of the step aside rule:

# The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa says South Africa needs a construction industry organised for social needs and not corporate profiteering. GIWUSA leader, Mametlwe Sebei, says the findings of the Council for the Built Environment report into George building collapse that claimed 34 lives and left 28 others injured confirm what workers experience daily under the relentless drive for profit. He says across South Africa’s economy, workers are treated as replaceable inputs:

# The Gauteng Health Department says a Sunday Times newspaper article titled “Young lions get their share”, about hospital board appointments, is misleading and is riddled with inaccuracies. The article claims that at least eight ANC Youth League leaders have been appointed to the boards of public hospitals in the province. The department’s spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba, says the claims of board members receiving an estimated ten-thousand-rand for every board meeting they attend are completely false and irresponsible:

# Japan’s prime minister Shigeru Ishiba says he has no plans to quit, despite his coalition party losing its upper house majority in the tightly-contested elections. His Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner Komeito needed 50 seats to secure the 248-seat upper chamber, in an election in which half the seats were up for grabs, but had only secured 47, with one seat left to declare as of this morning. Ishiba says he accepts the harsh result but that his focus was on trade negotiations with the US.

# Tennis: Canada beat host nation Italy 2-1 to win the Hopman Cup for the first time in Bari. Bianca Andreescu got Canada off to a winning start by beating Lucia Bronzetti, 6-2, 6-3. The hosts fought back as Wimbledon quarterfinalist Flavio Cobolli defeated Félix Auger-Aliassime in three sets. It all came down to the doubles, where Andreescu and Auger-Aliassime sealed the victory 6-3, 6-3, against Bronzetti and Cobolli.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 20-rand-58-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-75-cents and Bitcoin trades at 118-thousand-496-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-354-dollars-94-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-68-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….