News 06:00

BULLETIN 11 July 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The leader of RISE Mzansi is elected the chairperson of SCOPA
# The DA wants Mahlangu and Manemela to be prosecuted over Life Esidimeni
# And George Clooney calls on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race

# RISE Mzansi has welcomed the appointment of its national Leader and member of parliament Songezo Zibi as chairperson of parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts. The oversight body ensures accountability for public funds. The party’s caucus whip Makashule Gana says Zibi’s leadership aims to uphold zero tolerance for corruption, aligning with the commitment to effective public service and financial integrity. He outlined Zibi’s dedication to enhancing Parliament’s executive oversight and engaging with communities on financial transparency.

Meanwhile, ActionSA has expressed concern over the appointment of Zibi. ActionSA parliamentary caucus leader Athol Trollip says this breaks the convention of opposition party leadership. He argues this move by the government of national unity undermines effective oversight, as SCOPA plays a critical role in holding the government accountable:

# The DA in Gauteng is calling for former Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and mental health director Makgabo Manemela to face culpable homicide charges. This comes after the High Court in Pretoria found that the negligent conduct of the two caused the death of some of the 141 victims of the Life Esidimeni tragedy in 2016. The mental health patients were transferred to ill-prepared nongovernmental organisations from Life Esidimeni. The DA’s, Jack Bloom, says this ruling is a severe indictment on Mahlangu and Manemela:

# The Western Cape government says disaster teams are on high alert as the South African Weather Service has upgraded the weather warning for today to level eight for disruptive rainfall. Severe weather conditions in the province this week have left four-thousand-500 people displaced and more than 15-thousand structures damaged. City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says weather conditions will likely result in widespread flooding, and impact response times:

# Award-winning actor and Democratic mega-donor George Clooney has called on US president Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race. In an op-ed in the New York Times, he says the Biden he encountered at a fundraiser three weeks ago was diminished compared to the version of the president he knew in 2010. Clooney says it is disingenuous to argue that Democrats have already spoken with their vote, and therefore the nomination is settled. He adds that Biden has no chance of winning against former president Donald Trump.

# Rugby: Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi says they want to improve their scrum performance in Saturday’s final Test against Ireland in Durban. South Africa only started dominating that set piece in the first match in Pretoria once the bomb squad was released early in the second half. That eventually led to the forwards earning a penalty try late in the game. Mbonambi says they learned from their initial frustrations when Ireland succeeded in spoiling their scrums, but there are still many improvements to be made.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-12-cents and the euro at 19-rand-63-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-30-cents and Bitcoin trades at 57-thousand-620-dollars-35-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-374-dollars-1-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-49-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….