News 09:00

BULLETIN 21 June 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IFP says differences over the government of national unity must be cleared
# Namibia declares a national emergency amid a severe drought
# And rugby: England face their former coach, Eddie Jones, in Japan

 # The IFP says it has taken note of the ongoing public disagreements between the ANC’s Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula and the DA’s Helen Zille, as it pertains to clause 24 of the government of national unity statement of intent. The IFP’s spokesperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa says the party president Velenkosini Hlabisa has tasked the IFP’s coalition negotiations task team to engage with both parties. Hlengwa says there is an urgent need to iron out the differences through a joint meeting. He adds that they do not believe that the current situation is a crisis.

# Eskom in Gauteng has written a letter to the City Johannesburg and City Power demanding full payment of unpaid electricity account of 3.4-billion-rand by today. Eskom spokesperson, Amanda Qithi says the High Court in Johannesburg has ordered the City of Johannesburg and City Power to pay 1-billion-rand including interest for the unpaid electricity account. Qithi says this was necessitated by the fact that Johannesburg and City Power has been defaulting on its electricity account since October last year:

# Conservation groups have warned that African penguins face extinction by 2035 without swift action. They are now taking the state to court in an effort to protect the birds’ feeding grounds. There has been a 97-percent decline in penguins over the past century, with fewer than ten-thousand breeding pairs remaining. The crisis is driven primarily by a lack of access to prey, as the penguins compete with commercial boats which continue to catch sardine and anchovy in the waters surrounding the six largest African penguin breeding colonies that are home to an estimated 90% of South Africa’s African penguins. A trial date has been set for October.

# The Namibian government has declared a national emergency due to a severe drought, allocating 830-million-rand for relief efforts amid severe drought. Deputy prime minister John Mutorwa has announced a funding gap of 484-million-rand. Spokesperson I-Ben Nashandi says poor rainfall has caused a 53-percent reduction in crop yields, as dams are only at 55-percent capacity. He says the relief programme includes food assistance for nearly 342-thousand households and water provisions:

# Rugby: England come face to face with former boss Eddie Jones when they play his new-look Japan in a Test in sweltering Tokyo tomorrow. Temperatures are set to reach 30 degrees Celsius in the Japanese capital for Jones’ first game since returning to the Japan job for a second stint. The feisty Australian, who took England to the 2019 World Cup final, has named an inexperienced line-up featuring four new caps, including a university player. A capacity crowd of about 65-thousand is expected at the National Stadium.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-96-cents and the euro at 19-rand-25-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-505-dollars-63-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-362-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-61-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….