News 08:00

BULLETIN 8 July 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA says the ANC endorses lying to Parliament to protect cadre deployment
# Minister Godongwana will table the National Treasury budget today
# And the death toll from the Texas floods has risen to over 100

# The DA says the ANC is defending the indefensible by offering full and unconditional support to Higher Education and Training minister Nobuhle Nkabane, who is under criminal investigation. The party accuses Nkabane of lying to Parliament to cover up cadre deployment corruption. The DA’s Karabo Khakhau warns that such backing undermines accountability and signals a troubling return to shielding ministers accused of wrongdoing:

# Finance minister Enoch Godongwana will table the National Treasury’s budget vote in Parliament today. It comes weeks after the national budget 3.0 got the green light in the National Assembly after the approval of the fiscal framework. Treasury says the budget vote will outline the department’s achievements, progress, as well as the annual service delivery commitments reflected in the annual performance plan for the upcoming year, amongst others.

# The Freedom Front Plus in Ekurhuleni says it helped to rescue 14 Ethiopian men who had been held captive in a house in Birchleigh North. This is after the party’s councillor in Kempton Park, Jean Kriek, was informed of people calling for help from the house and went to investigate. Kriek says the men had been assaulted with pangas and knives. The FF Plus says a preliminary investigation revealed that the men were lured from Ethiopia to South Africa under false pretences and subsequently held captive in the house.

# The death toll from the devastating floods that hit central Texas has risen to at least 104. In Kerr County alone, at least 84 bodies have been recovered, which includes 56 adults and 28 children. Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp, has confirmed that 27 girls and counsellors died in weekend floods. Ten young girls and one counsellor are still unaccounted for. Texas Senator Ted Cruz says recent government spending cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service did not delay any flood warnings.

# Soccer: Banyana Banyana got their Women’s African Cup of Nations title defence off to a winning start, beating Ghana 2-0 in Morocco. Linda Motlhalo converted a penalty before Jermaine Seoposenwe added the second goal in the first half, to help South Africans start the continental tournament with maximum points. Banyana Banyana will next face Tanzania in Group C on Friday. Coach Desiree Ellis says she is happy with their overall performance:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-81-cents and the euro at 20-rand-90-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-27-cents and Bitcoin trades at 107-thousand-803-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-331-dollars-41-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….