News 08:00

BULLETIN 14 June 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The quorum for the first parliamentary sitting is intact despite the MK Party’s absence
# Eight political parties are going to protest today over alleged election fraud
# And the City of Joburg has a municipal debt of more than 52-billion-rand

# Secretary to Parliament Xolile George says the inauguration of the president is expected to take place on Wednesday, within five days of the election. Several parties, including MK, EFF, ActionSA, DA, and UDM, have made changes to their National Assembly lists. Despite MK Party members’ likely absence from the first sitting, the quorum will be met with one-third of the 400 members. George says missing members of Parliament will be sworn in later:

# Eight political parties including the MK Party, Cope, and Arise SA will protest in Cape Town today over alleged irregularities and fraudulent activities that marred the general elections. This is as the National Assembly will hold its first sitting of the seventh administration, where the president, speaker, and deputy speaker will be elected. The parties say the Electoral Commission dismissed all Section 55 objections without investigating the merits of the irregularities and wilful disregard of the Electoral Act.

# The City of Johannesburg says it has a ballooning debt of more than 52-billion-rand, and it is unsustainable to continue providing water, electricity, sewer, and refuse services without receiving payment in return. The city says it will now intensify its disconnection campaign to defaulting residents. High on the list of defaulting suburbs include Midrand; Steyn City, Lenasia, Blue Hills, Bryanston, and Kyalami, which collectively owe over 464-million-rand to date. The city says it remains open to negotiations for payment arrangements.

# The G7 leaders have agreed to use the profits derived from frozen Russian sovereign assets to underwrite a 920-billion-rand loan to Ukraine. This loan is designed to help Kyiv fend off the impact of Russian military attacks. US president Joe Biden also signed a ten-year security agreement with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Speaking at the G7 summit in Puglia, Italy, Biden says the goal is to strengthen Ukraine’s credible defence and deterrence capabilities for the long term:

# Golf: Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy and American Patrick Cantlay both registered a five-under 65 to share the opening-round lead at the US Open in North Carolina. Debutant Ludvig Åberg of Sweden is a shot back in third. World number one Scottie Scheffler of the US finished one-over 71, while three-time champion Tiger Woods ended at four over par. McIlroy, who is aiming for a fifth major title, says he played a controlled round of golf:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-41-cents and the euro at 19-rand-78-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-50-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-728-dollars-74-cents. Gold sells at twe-thousand-308-dollars-14-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-34-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….