News 07:00

BULLETIN 3 July 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# GIWUSA says the fuel hikes are a brutal blow to the working class
# AfriForum warns of total border control collapse
# And the Weather Service warns of another cold front and extreme weather conditions

# General industries union Giwusa has condemned this month’s fuel price increases as a direct attack on workers and the poor. As of yesterday, 93-octane petrol rose by 55-cents a litre, and 95-octane by 52-cents, diesel by 84-cents, and paraffin by 89-cents. The union blames the hikes on global conflicts, government over-taxation, and energy policy failures. Giwusa’s Mametlwe Sebei warns the hikes will lead to higher food and transport costs, job losses, and deepen inequality:

# AfriForum says South Africa’s border control has collapsed, putting national security and public safety at risk. According to the civil rights organisation, over 100 stolen vehicles have been smuggled into Mozambique through Kosi Bay border in KwaZulu-Natal since April this year, while in Limpopo, up to six vehicles cross illegally into Zimbabwe each day. AfriForum’s Jacques Broodryk says taxpayers spend over eleven-million-rand daily to detain over 24-thousand undocumented foreign nationals:

# ActionSA says the public healthcare system is overwhelmed due to illegal foreigners abusing access rights. They call for constitutional changes to limit healthcare for illegal foreign nationals and put South African citizens first. ActionSA’s Lerato Ngobeni says it’s unacceptable that some public clinics report over 70-percent of patients as foreign nationals. Ngobeni urges the government to balance humanitarian duties with protecting citizens’ rights:

# A cyber hacker broke into a database containing the personal information of millions of customers of Qantas Airline in Australia. Qantas said in a statement that the hacker targeted a call centre and gained access to a third-party customer service platform containing six million names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and frequent flyer numbers. The airline said it detected unusual activity on the platform and acted immediately to contain it. It added that the hacker did not access frequent flyer accounts or customer passwords, PINs, or login details.

# Rugby: Junior Springbok head coach Kevin Foote made minor changes to his team for tomorrow’s World Rugby Under 20 Championship match against England in Rovigo, Italy. He kept faith in the players who destroyed Australia in their first match, winning 73-17. Foote picked centre Gino Cupido in the starting team in place of Demitre Erasmus, who is ill, and replaced Erich Visser and Ian van der Merwe on the bench with Ceano Everson and Dominic Malgas. Kick-off is at 6 pm.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-57-cents and the euro at 20-rand-75-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-88-dollar. Gold sells at three-thousand-345-dollars-57-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-27-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The South African Weather Service has warned that a potent cold front brings along disruptive rain, snow, and severe conditions to several regions. The Western and Northern Cape expect heavy rain and floods while the Drakensberg highlands may see snowfall. Temperatures are expected to plummet in Gauteng and southern Mpumalanga on Friday with Johannesburg experiencing chilly to freezing temperatures. Meanwhile, strong winds threaten veld fires in the Northern Cape’s interior. South Africans are urged to remain cautious amid the extreme weather.

Stay tuned for more news………….