News 07:00

BULLETIN 25 July 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa is set to meet the Northern Cape provincial executive today
# Only one of the three Gupta Saxonwold properties was sold at auction
# And, the UN warns that starving Gazans are beginning to resemble walking corpses

# President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead an engagement between the national executive and the provincial executive of the Northern Cape today. This is aligned with the president’s commitment to collaborate closely with provincial and local governments to improve the lives of citizens and broaden economic opportunities. The Presidency says the provincial executive, led by premier Zamani Saul, will present to Ramaphosa its five-year programme, in alignment with the priorities of the 7th Administration and the context of South Africa hosting the G20.

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile says small and medium enterprises are significant contributors to economic development and job creation globally. He delivered the closing remarks at the Global Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting in Boksburg, Gauteng, yesterday. The three-day event was held under the theme “Navigating New Business Frontiers.” Mashatile says governments can attribute the relevance of small and medium enterprises in reducing unemployment to their ability to react swiftly to market changes:

# Health minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, says South Africa must lead in the global fight against tuberculosis through partnerships, innovation, and vaccine readiness. Speaking at the TB Vaccine Preparedness Workshop in Johannesburg, the minister stressed the need for urgent action to protect adolescents and adults, the most at-risk groups. He confirmed that new vaccine trials are underway, and South Africa is preparing to deliver a new generation of TB vaccines:

# Only one of the three infamous Gupta Saxonwold properties was sold at an auction yesterday. The properties, once at the centre of the state capture saga, have stood vacant since 2018, when the Gupta brothers fled South Africa amid mounting allegations of corruption. The sold property fetched 3.3-million-rand, 40-percent off its listed value. Park Village Auctions’ Graham van Niekerk told the SABC that they are not surprised that the two more luxurious properties, one with 17 en-suite bedrooms, remained unsold:

# The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees says people in Gaza are neither dead nor alive; they are walking corpses. At least 113 people have died of hunger in Gaza, 45 of them in the last four days. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini says they have the equivalent of six-thousand loaded trucks of food and medical supplies waiting in Jordan and Egypt. He has urged Israel to allow humanitarian partners to bring unrestricted and uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

# Motorsport: A race in Brazil will replace one in Argentina in next season’s MotoGP. Organisers announced the race at the Ayrton Senna circuit in Goiania, scheduled for the second event of the 2026 campaign, marks Brazil’s return to MotoGP, having hosted races between 1987 and 1989. Argentina is set to organise a race again once a circuit is built near Buenos Aires. The season will end on November 22 in the Spanish city of Valencia.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-61-cents and the euro at 20-rand-68-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-77-cents and Bitcoin trades at 117-thousand-244-dollar. Gold sells at three-thousand-370-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-71-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….