News 11:00

BULLETIN 4 June 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Ministry of Energy says the procurement process of the Battery Energy Storage programme was transparent
# The MK Party wants the board of the Road Accident Fund removed
# And cricket: The Proteas coach says his appointment had nothing to do with Heinrich Klaasen’s retirement

# The Ministry of Electricity and Energy says the procurement process for the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme was transparent and competitive. This comes as the MK Party has called for an inquiry into the awarding of a multi-billion-rand energy tender to Mulilo Energy. This is a company chaired by former Eskom Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer. Out of the five available projects, four were awarded to Mulilo Energy. The ministry says the procurement process was subject to rigorous legal, technical, and financial due diligence.

# The MK Party has called for the removal of the Road Accident Fund board, criticising the inconsistencies around CEO Collins Letsoalo. On Tuesday, the board rescinded a decision to place Letsoalo on special leave and has now replaced it with a suspension. It told Parliament’s portfolio committee on Transport that its decision to place the CEO on special leave was not legally sound. The MK Party’s, Lucky Montana, says the board must lift Letsoalo’s suspension:

# National Police Commissioner,  Fannie Masemola, has condemned the attack on officers of the Anti-Gang Unit while performing their duties in Westbury, Johannesburg, on Tuesday. The officers were attacked by community members after they arrested a man for alleged possession of drugs. National Police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, says Masemola is disappointed in the conduct of this community, which often complains about high crime levels in the area, including the fight over turf between drug dealers and traffickers:

# Tech billionaire Elon Musk has once again criticised president Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, calling it outrageous and a disgusting abomination. The bill, which includes multi-trillion-dollar tax breaks, was passed by the House of Representatives last month. Musk, who left the Trump administration last week, says Congress is making America bankrupt. Republican House Speaker, Mike Johnson, has pushed back against Musk, saying his criticism of the bill is wrong:

# Cricket: Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad has dismissed suggestions that his appointment as South Africa’s white-ball coach had anything to do with the retirement of Heinrich Klaasen. Conrad was confirmed as the Proteas’ all-format coach last month, a month after Klaasen was not included on CSA’s central contract list, even as a white-ball-only player. Conrad says Klaasen turned down Cricket South Africa’s offer of a full contract long before he was appointed. He adds that it is unfortunate to lose a player of Klaasen’s calibre.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-84-cents and the euro at 20-rand-30-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-13-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-427-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-358-dollars-50-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-19-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….