News 08:00

BULLETIN 2 July 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Business Leadership SA says the new Cabinet must put the national interest first
# The DA in Gauteng criticises the ANC over claims of negotiating in bad faith
# And tennis: Lloyd Harris, Alcaraz, and Sinner are through to the second round at Wimbledon

# Business Leadership South Africa says the success of the new cabinet under the government of national unity will depend on the agreements reached with political parties. The organisation’s CEO Busisiwe Mavuso says the firmer the foundation, with all sides understanding their roles and responsibilities, the more stable and effective citizens can expect this coalition government to be. She adds that cabinet members bear a heavy responsibility to put the national interest first, and action and delivery must be clear.

OUTA has meanwhile questioned some cabinet appointments, seeking greater transparency from new ministers. CEO Wayne Duvenage hopes for closer consultation with civil society and better service delivery. Duvenage has criticised the increased cabinet size and the retention of underperforming ministers stating the bloated cabinet will be a massive cost to society. He has also emphasised the need to address wasteful expenditure, maladministration, and corruption:

# DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga has criticised the ANC for accusing the party of negotiating in bad faith. Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s announcement of his ten-member provincial cabinet was derailed yesterday evening, as the ANC and DA deadlocked over positions. In the 80-seat provincial legislature, the ANC holds 28 seats, followed by the DA with 22. Msimanga says on multiple occasions they have made their intentions clear but the ANC refused to hear their proposals:

# The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says at least 39 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in anti-government demonstrations in the country. Anti-tax rallies largely led by young people descended into scenes of deadly violence last week when when lawmakers passed the contentious finance bill, that was going to raise more money in taxes. The national rights watchdog says there have also been 32 cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances and 627 arrests of protesters.

# Tennis: South Africa’s Lloyd Harris is through to the second round of Wimbledon after beating American Alex Michelsen, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 7-6. Harris, who has been on the comeback trail after struggling with injury, came through the Wimbledon qualifiers. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain beat Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal, 7-6, 7-5, 6-2, while world number one Italy’s Jannik Sinner defeated German Yannick Hanfmann, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Sinner says playing his first Grand Slam as world number one is exciting:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-38-cents and the euro at 19-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-23-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-88-dollars-85-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-329-dollars-73-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 86-dollars-77-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….