News 08:00

BULLETIN 23 July 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF has vowed to continue to criticise the executive
# The Constitutional Court paves the way for Sasol to be prosecuted for price gouging
# And cycling: Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar is ruled out of the Olympics

# The EFF says the government of national unity wants a situation in which they are the executive and the oversight, eliminating the opposition. The government of national unity commands close to 70-percent of Parliament. The EFF’s, Omphile Maotwe, says to criticise the executive is a constitutional duty, which they take very seriously. She adds that the Progressive Caucus is the best development in strengthening Parliamentary oversight:

# The Competition Commission has been given the green light to proceed with the prosecution of Sasol on allegations of excessive pricing of natural pipe gas. This comes after the Constitutional Court dismissed Sasol’s application for leave to appeal, in a case investigating claims that it engaged in gas price gouging for almost a decade. Preliminary findings by the commission suggest that the chemicals and energy company charged markups of up to 72-percent. Sasol says it is considering the most appropriate way forward.

# Embattled Gauteng High Court Judge Tintswalo Makhubele has been labelled as an unsatisfactory witness. She stands accused of undermining the independence of the judiciary by occupying the positions of judge and chairperson of the interim Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa board at the same time. Delivering closing arguments before the Judicial Conduct Tribunal, evidence leader advocate Dorian Paver says Makhubele threatened the independence and public confidence in the judicial system:

# US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle says she takes full responsibility for the failure to protect former president Donald Trump on the 13th of July. Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. She was grilled by the House Oversight Committee yesterday. Cheatle acknowledged that the Trump assassination attempt was the most significant operational failure at the Secret Service in decades:

# Cycling: Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar has been ruled out of the Paris Olympic Games. The Slovenian Olympic Committee says he has not been selected because of fatigue after winning his third Tour de France on Sunday. Pogačar was one of the favourites, alongside Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, for the Olympic road race on the third of next month. Pogačar will be replaced by his national team colleague Domen Novak. Meanwhile, defending Olympic champion Richard Carapaz was not selected by Ecuador.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-24-cents and the euro at 19-rand-88-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-59-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-619-dollars-20-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-397-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-38-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….