News 12:00

BULLETIN 10 July 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Freedom Under Law plans to legally challenge John Hlophe’s election to the Judicial Service Commission
# July rainfall records are broken in the Western Cape
# And, soccer: Former Liverpool striker Bellamy is appointed Wales’s coach

# Freedom Under Law says it will legally challenge Parliament’s decision to elect the MK Party’s John Hlophe as one of its representatives on the Judicial Service Commission. The impeached Western Cape judge president is one of six National Assembly members who will serve on the JSC. Freedom Under Law says to have an individual who was found to have committed gross misconduct and removed from judicial office, now in a position to decide on the suitability of candidates for judicial appointment, is inappropriate and irrational.

# July rainfall records have been broken in the Western Cape, due to a series of cold fronts that have led to gusty winds, heavy snowfall and rain. New rainfall records for July have been broken at weather stations in Elim, Swellendam and Tulbagh. Elim got its highest rainfall in eight years at 70.2 millimetres, Tulbagh 69.8 and Swellendam 30.4. Meteorologist Annette Botha says while temperatures in the east are expected to recover, the Western Cape will face two more cold fronts this week.

Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town’s Disaster Operations Centre says no significant reports of damage or impacts related to the weather were reported overnight. Cold weather accompanied by heavy rain and flooding is still being experienced in the Western Cape. The centre’s Sonica Lategan says assessments to date indicate that approximately more than 14-thousand structures have been impacted by varying degrees of flooding or wind damage in informal settlements:

# Tshwane’s Health Department is calling for greater awareness about the importance of contact tracing to curb M pox infections. There are 20 cases nationally and ten in Gauteng. Mayoral committee member for Community Safety, Grandi Theunissen, says all cases in Tshwane have been locally transmitted with no recorded travel history. He adds they are stepping up contact tracing:

# Soccer: Former Liverpool, Newcastle and Wales striker Craig Bellamy has been contracted as new head coach of the Welsh national team until 2028. He has replaced Rob Page, who was sacked following Wales’ failure to qualify for Euro 2024. The 44-year-old Bellamy leaves Burnley, where he was assistant to former manager Vincent Kompany last season as they were relegated from the Premier League.

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-8-cents and the euro at 19-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-14-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-758-dollars-93-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-371-dollars-69-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-36-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….