News 11:00

BULLETIN 3 June 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The speaker of the National Assembly rejects claims by ATM’s leader on her role in the Section 89 process
# The Malawian government will assist its citizens who want to leave South Africa amid anti-immigration violence
# And soccer: Bafana Bafana’s visa drama is finally over as the assistant coach is cleared to travel to Mexico

# National Assembly speaker, Thoko Didiza, says the allegations made by African Transformation Movement leader, Vuyo Zungula, against her are false, unwarranted, and defamatory. He alleged she met with president Cyril Ramaphosa’s lawyers following the Constitutional Court judgment relating to the Phala Phala matter, and called for her recusal from all matters related to the impeachment committee. Parliament spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, says Didiza has diligently complied with every directive without delay:

# The Malawian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will soon commence a voluntary repatriation exercise for its nationals who have requested support to leave South Africa. This comes as anti-foreigner protests have spread across the country in recent days, with flare-ups in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape. These protests have led to Ghana evacuating about 300 of its citizens last week, with Nigeria also announcing repatriation plans. The Malawian government has commended the South African government for taking decisive steps to address its concerns.

# The Freedom Front Plus says the continued spread of foot-and-mouth disease in Gauteng and the fact that much of the province’s livestock is unregulated and unregistered, poses a serious risk to the agricultural sector. Government’s goal is to vaccinate 80-percent of South Africa’s national cattle herd by the end of the year. FF Plus spokesperson Jaco Mulder says the greatest challenge for the Department of Agriculture remains the inability to effectively monitor and verify the movement and origin of all livestock:

Moving abroad:

# US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, says dysfunction within the Iranian regime has slowed progress toward a potential agreement. Ongoing clashes between Israel and Hezbollah threaten to derail US-Iranian negotiations. Iran targeted American bases in the region and a vessel near the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. It stated this was in response to US attacks on an Iran-linked oil tanker and strikes on Qeshm Island. Rubio says negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme could take months:

# Soccer: Local governing body SAFA says Bafana Bafana’s assistant coach, Helman Mkhalele, and head of security, Mdu Mbatha, have left to join the rest of the team in Mexico for the World Cup after finally securing their visas. Their initial applications were denied by the US consulate general in Johannesburg for unspecified reasons. SAFA says both officials were granted visas following intervention from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation. Bafana Bafana is due to play a final warm-up friendly against Jamaica on Friday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-30-cents and the euro at 18-rand-94-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-850-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-461-dollars-35-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 97-dollars-9-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….