News 12:00

BULLETIN NEWS AGENCY 9 July 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Musi Maimane warns against having no credible opposition in Parliament
# The City of Cape Town says flooding is correlated to blocked stormwater infrastructure
# And, cricket: Rohit Sharma stays on as India’s Test and one-day captain after retiring from T20s

# Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane says an effective and principled opposition should always be celebrated as patriotic, just as important as those in the executive arm of government. In an opinion piece for Daily Maverick, he says the new dispensation means that the role of a constructive opposition is crucial because 70-percent of Parliament is now part of the government of national unity. Maimane says if they create no credible opposition, a different form of state capture could emerge.

# The City of Cape Town says much of the flooding affecting communities is directly correlated to blocked stormwater infrastructure. The city is currently experiencing heavy rain, which is leading to flooding, accompanied by strong winds. Mayoral committee member for Urban Mobility, Rob Quintas, says teams are working around the clock to clear more than 268 affected roads, with Khayelitsha and Cape Flats being one of the severely impacted areas:

# An investigation is underway after a Spanish tourist was killed by an elephant at the Pilanesberg National Park in North West. The 43-year-old man died after exiting his vehicle to take a closer look at the animal. The North West Parks and Tourism Board says statements by witnesses suggest the female elephant that charged and attacked the man, might have done so to protect the herd. Police spokesperson, Sabata Mokgwabone, says the man was with three other people:

# Cricket: India’s governing body confirmed Rohit Sharma will remain captain of the Test and one-day teams after ending his T20 international career when the team won the recent World Cup. The 37-year-old as well as former captain Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja announced their T20 retirements after the victory over South Africa in Barbados. The BCCI says Sharma led the country to it’s third final in the past year after also reaching the title matches in the one-day World Cup and the World Test championship.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-9-cents and the euro at 19-rand-57-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 57-thousand-446-dollars-41-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-361-dollars-40-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-34-cents a barrel.

# And, finally: Universal Pictures and Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 rose to the top of the North American box office on its first weekend in theatres. The film, starring Steve Carell, grossed over one-billion-rand over three days. The franchise has out-earned Shrek, Toy Story, and Frozen, and is the 15th-highest-grossing franchise of all time. Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2 is second at the box office, making over 543-million-rand, with Apocalyptic horror A Quiet Place: Day One, in third place.

Stay tuned for more news………….