News 07:00

BULLETIN 1 July 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa makes changes to his cabinet
# South African citizens are commended for peaceful demonstrations
# And, the Competition Commission may not prosecute banks

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has made changes to the Cabinet, all but one in line with what DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis requested. Willem Aucamp is the new minister of Agriculture, and David Maynier is the minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment. Steenhuisen is demoted to Trade, Industry, and Competition deputy minister, Alexandra Abrahams is the deputy minister of Electricity and Energy, Jack Bloom is the deputy minister of Water and Sanitation, and the deputy minister of Higher Education is Yusuf Cassim. In addition, Ramaphosa has also appointed Dina Pule as Social Development minister.

# The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration says South Africans must be commended for exercising their constitutional right to protest peacefully and responsibly during yesterday’s migration-related demonstrations. Protests remained largely peaceful across the country, with policing having responded to isolated incidents of looting and attempted looting. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, says those who choose to exploit the marches to commit criminal acts will face the full might of the law:

# The Constitutional Court has dismissed the Competition Commission’s appeal against most of the 28 banks it had accused of colluding to manipulate the rand. This effectively clears the likes of Standard Bank, Nedbank, FirstRand, and Bank of America. The court ruled that the commission’s prosecution against the banks was based on flawed factual assumptions. However, the apex court has allowed the commission’s appeal to proceed against BNP Paribas, JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, and Standard Americas Incorporated.

# The South African Local Government Association says it will continue pursuing legal and intergovernmental processes after the High Court in Pretoria dismissed its urgent bid to halt the rollout of Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences phase two. The organisation remains concerned about the funding model and the impact on already strained municipal budgets. SALGA’s Sebang Motlhabi argues there was insufficient consultation with local government:

# The maritime security threat level for the Strait of Hormuz has been raised to substantial, with additional mine risk persisting and clearance operations ongoing. On Sunday, the US military launched further strikes on multiple targets in Iran, a day after it struck Tehran in retaliation for a drone attack on a cargo ship in the Strait. In retaliation, Iran launched a missile and drone ⁠operation targeting ​eight US military ‌sites in ‌Kuwait and Bahrain. The Joint Maritime Information Centre says vessels have, however, continued to transit the Strait without interruption.

# Cricket: Six-time champions Australia are back in the T20 Women’s World Cup final for the first time in three years, after thrashing the West Indies by eight wickets at the Oval. The West Indies were restricted to 125 for seven. In reply, Beth Mooney scored an unbeaten 61 from 36 balls, as Australia reached the winning target with seven overs to spare. Australia will now face either England or South Africa in Sunday’s final at Lord’s. Monney says making another final is special:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-42-cents and the euro at 18-rand-72-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-396-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-980-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-21-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….