News 07:00

BULLETIN 1 August 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa appoints Dunstan Mlambo as Deputy Chief Justice
# BOSA says the repo rate cut brings much-needed relief to struggling citizens
# And Tshwane’s new cleansing levy is declared unlawful and invalid

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo as the Deputy Chief Justice. The position has been vacant since September 2024, when Chief Justice Mandisa Maya assumed her role at the apex of the judiciary. Last month, the Judicial Service Commission recommended Mlambo for the position, after interviewing three judges. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says in making the appointment, the president considered the views of the JSC and political parties represented in the National Assembly:

# Build One South Africa welcomes the South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee’s decision to lower the interest rate by 25 basis points to seven-percent. The prime lending rate has been lowered to 10.5-percent. BOSA’s spokesperson, Roger Solomons, says this move brings much-needed relief to millions of citizens struggling under the financial noose of high debt costs, rising living expenses, stagnant wages, and the exorbitant cost of living:

# Home loan originator BetterBond has also welcomed the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut the repo rate to its lowest since 2022. National head of sales, Bradd Bendall, says the move offers relief for homeowners. He announced that bond applications rose 7.4-percent over the past year, with home loans granted up by 13.6-percent:

# The Pretoria High Court has declared the City of Tshwane’s new cleansing levy as unlawful and invalid, setting it aside. The levy targeted gated communities and shopping malls that do not have existing city waste accounts but use private waste collection services, charging a monthly tariff of 194-rand-37-cents. AfriForum had approached the court to overturn this levy that was set to be imposed on nearly 260-thousand households and businesses in Tshwane. The court also awarded AfriForum a cost order.

# The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged Angolan authorities to conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the deaths, as well as the reported use of excessive force during the fuel price hike demonstrations. At least 22 people were killed, 200 injured, and over one-thousand detained following protests against a rise in the price of fuel. The UN says unverified footage suggests that security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protesters, which points to an unnecessary and disproportionate use of force.

# Rugby: Cameron Dawson wears the number one jersey when he runs onto the field in Bloemfontein tonight in his 50th match for the Cheetahs. The Free State team takes on the Pumas in the Currie Cup. Vernon Paulo starts at hooker with Pierre Raymond Uys coming in at lock. Sasko Ndlovu will make his debut as left flanker. In the backline, Smiley Nel starts at scrumhalf and Tiaan Swanepoel at flyhalf. Carel-Jan Coetzee is at inside-centre, with James Verity-Amm at fullback. Cohen Jasper moves to the left wing. Kick-off is at 7 pm.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-22-cents and the euro at 20-rand-79-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-4-cents and Bitcoin trades at 115-thousand-202-dollar. Gold sells at three-thousand-287-dollars-38-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-47-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….