News 06:00

BULLETIN 4 August 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Over nine-thousand people were intercepted at South Africa’s border posts during the first quarter
# The DA is confident that Dunstan Mlambo will strengthen the judiciary and the rule of law
# And swimming: Pieter Coetzé wrapped up the World Aquatics Championships with three medals

# The Border Management Authority commissioner, Michael Masiapato, says a total of nine-thousand-954 persons were intercepted, apprehended, and deported during the first quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year while attempting to enter the country illegally. Masiapato says of these five-thousand-826 were undocumented, two-thousand-127 were inadmissible, and two-thousand-and-one were undesirables. The commissioner says the majority of the intercepted and deported individuals were Basotho, Zimbabweans, and Mozambicans:

Masiapato also says a total of 986 human remains permits were processed during the first quarter. Masiapato delivered the BMA quarterly report and unveiled new security measures to be implemented across ports of entry. The commissioner says 44 human remains were brought into the country, while 942 left the country:

# The DA says the South African Judiciary needs strong leadership now more than ever, at a time when the threat of lawlessness abounds. This follows the appointment of Justice Dunstan Mlambo as the deputy Chief Justice. The party’s Glynnis Breytenbach says Mlambo will play a crucial role supporting Chief Justice Mandisa Maya in fulfilling her mandate to build a strong and capable judiciary. She says they have full confidence that Mlambo’s uncompromising approach to justice and fairness will permeate throughout the Judiciary.

# ActionSA in Johannesburg is demanding that mayor Dada Morero account for over 24-billion-rand in irregular and wasteful expenditure. The party says this follows the contents of a letter issued by Finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, to Morero, exposing a damning picture of persistent non-compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act and catastrophic levels of financial mismanagement under the current administration. ActionSA‘s Elmari Atterbury says the party has welcomed the minister’s directive for an urgent explanation and plan of action from the mayor:

# Israel’s far-right National Security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has sparked outrage after leading a group of worshippers in Jewish prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the most sensitive holy site in Jerusalem. This is despite a decades-old arrangement, where anyone can visit the site, but only Muslims are allowed to pray there. The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs condemned Ben Gvir’s visit, calling him an extremist. Jordan, a custodian of the site, described the minister’s visit as an unacceptable provocation and a flagrant violation of international law.

# Swimming: Twenty-one-year-old Pieter Coetzé won silver in the 50-metre backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, to finish the competition with three medals. He also secured gold in 100-metre backstroke and silver in the 200-metre backstroke. The South African recorded another African record time of 24.17-seconds to share the silver with Russian Pavel Samusenko, when the pair touched the wall in unison behind Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov. Coetzé is the second South African, after Roland Schoeman, to win a treble of medals at a world championships gala.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-2-cents and the euro at 20-rand-87-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-92-cents and Bitcoin trades at 114-thousand-348-dollar. Gold sells at three-thousand-355-dollars-61-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 69-dollars-7-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….