News 13:00

BULLETIN 29 July 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The public will have access to the hearings into the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner’s allegations
# The FF Plus will not allow Pretoria’s City Hall to be sold off to Iran’s embassy
# And tennis: Naomi Osaka splits with her coach Patrick Mouratoglou after less than a year

# Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga has confirmed that the public will have access to the hearings of the commission of inquiry into KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s claims of political interference. The inquiry will also livestream proceedings, unless otherwise directed. Madlanga noted pending Constitutional Court litigation challenging the commission’s establishment. He confirmed they will comply with any court ruling, but says preparations for public hearings are moving forward:

# The Freedom Front Plus says it strongly opposes the City of Tshwane’s plan to potentially sell or lease the historic Pretoria City Hall to the Iranian government. The hall has not been in operation for about a decade now and requires about 200-million-rand to fix. The Iranian embassy’s cultural division wants to use the neglected hall for cultural and artistic activities. FF Plus’ Grandi Theunissen says the building, a symbol of South Africa’s capital, has to be preserved:

# Police say they remain resolute in their nationwide operations to combat and prevent criminal activities that threaten public safety and sabotage the country’s economic infrastructure. Operation Shanela, carried out in all nine provinces last week, led to the arrest of 14-thousand-273 suspects. Police spokesperson, Vincent Mukhathi, says over 156-million-rand worth of counterfeit clothing and illicit cigarettes were recovered:

# Tennis: Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has parted ways with coach Patrick Mouratoglou after less than a year of working together. Under the Frenchman’s guidance, the 27-year-old Japanese reached the Auckland final in January and won the L’Open 35 de Saint Malo for her first title since 2021. Osaka says it was a great experience learning from Mouratoglou. He shared the same sentiments, saying he is grateful for the trust and their journey together. She will work with Polish coach Tomasz Wiktorowski on a trial basis.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-93-cents and the euro at 20-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 118-thousand-890-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-321-dollars-87-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 69-dollars-76-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A zoo on the Isle of Wight in the south of England announced the birth of red panda twins after introducing the parents last year. The cubs’ 10-year-old mother, Xiao, was paired with 10-month-old male Flint after he was imported from the Belfast Zoo. The cubs will remain hidden in the nest boxes until they are at least three months old. The species lives in the eastern Himalayas and China, is endangered and on the decline. Red pandas are poached for fur, caught in traps and under threat from forest clearance.

Stay tuned for more news………….