News 07:00

BULLETIN 29 May 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The National Assembly speaker calls for stronger law-making and oversight
# BOSA warns the repo rate increase will worsen the cost-of-living crisis
# And tennis: Sinner suffers a shock second-round exit at Roland-Garros

# National Assembly speaker, Thoko Didiza, says Parliament remains committed to strengthening oversight, improving service delivery, and ensuring an effective, accountable, and people-centred legislature. The total budget for Parliament for the 2026/2027 financial year amounts to 6.3-billion-rand, which is made up of an allocation received from the National Treasury of 3.3-billion-rand, plus the rebuilding fund and own revenue streams. Didiza says Parliament needs to be thorough in its legislation processes:

# Build One South Africa says the seven-percent interest rate increase will make life harder for households and businesses already under financial pressure. The party argues the 25-basis point hike will raise debt repayments when many people are already struggling to get through the month. BOSA’s Roger Solomons says the government must urgently focus on economic reforms to boost growth, create jobs, and reduce living costs, as higher interest rates alone will not resolve the country’s economic challenges.

# The MK Party says it is assessing the full circumstances surrounding the allegations and subsequent charges against its chief whip, Mmabatho Mokoena Zondi. She appeared in the Cape Magistrate’s Court on charges of fraud yesterday and was released on 30-thousand-rand bail. It is alleged that Mokoena-Zondi recruited four individuals as researchers for the party. She allegedly demanded payments from them under the pretext that the money was needed for party president Jacob Zuma’s legal fees. The MK Party says legal and internal organisational processes must unfold fairly and transparently.

# The City of Cape Town says a positive outlook from Moody’s Ratings is a strong vote of confidence in its governance, financial management and service delivery. The ratings agency has upgraded the city’s outlook from stable to positive, citing strong financial performance, high revenue collection, low debt levels and sound financial planning. Mayoral committee member for finance, Siseko Mbandezi, says the upgrade will help the city access funding at better rates for its 40-billion-rand infrastructure programme.

# Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is no longer just a regional power, but a global one. He was speaking at a conference in the occupied West Bank. Netanyahu says that with Israel controlling 60-percent of the Gaza Strip, he has instructed the military to expand and take over 70-percent of the territory. The seizure of more of Gaza would force approximately two-million Palestinians into a shrinking fraction of the coastal enclave’s shattered territory. Netanyahu stated that Israel has never been stronger than it is now.

# Tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner suffered a shock second-round defeat at the French Open after struggling physically in sweltering conditions. The Italian was just a game from victory at 5-1 in the third set, when he started cramping and feeling dizzy, which required a medical timeout. After dropping the third set, Sinner failed to regain his fitness as Argentina’s world number 56 Manuel Cerundolo won, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1. Sinner says he was very low in energy:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-23-cents and the euro at 18-rand-91-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-81-cents and Bitcoin trades at 73-thousand-444-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-502-dollars-10-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 91-dollars-82-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….