News 12:00

BULLETIN 23 July 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# DIRCO dismisses Ghanian nationals’ petition to the International Criminal Court as opportunistic
# The small claims courts’ jurisdiction is raised to 30-thousand-rand
# And cycling: Defending champion Pogačar is in a comfortable lead as the Tour de France enters its 18th stage

# The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has dismissed two Ghanaian nationals’ petition to the International Criminal Court as opportunistic. They have asked the court to open a preliminary investigation into attacks against foreign nationals in South Africa as they believe that could constitute crimes against humanity. The department’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, says the submission fails to meet the statutory legal triggers and jurisdictional requirements needed to prompt action by the court:

# The Public Servants Association calls on the Reserve Bank to carefully consider the severe financial pressure facing households when deliberating on the repo rate at today’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting. Economists are divided over whether the central bank will hike rates again or leave them unchanged. PSA’s Claude Naicker says wage increases have not kept pace with the cumulative impact of inflation and the sustained increase in the cost of living:

# National Treasury has defended its decision to temporarily withhold July’s equitable share transfers of 13.5-billion-rand from 69 municipalities over poor financial management, saying it complied with constitutional and legislative prescripts. This comes after the Financial and Fiscal Commission questioned the lawfulness of the decision. Deputy director-general in the Treasury’s office of the general counsel, advocate Empie van Schoor, says conditional grants can be withheld by the executive, but are subject to Parliament’s approval.

# The monetary jurisdiction of small claims courts are increased from 20-thousand- to 30-thousand-rand from the first of next month. The first adjustment since 2019 expands access to affordable, efficient justice based on a case’s merits rather than financial means. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s spokesperson, Palesa Rammitlwa, says the impact of these courts is significant, as over 36-thousand-600 cases valued at 257-million-rand were registered in the past financial year:

# Cycling: The Tour de France enters the high Alps for Stage 18 today after defending champion Tadej Pogačar protected his substantial overall lead yesterday. Riders face a three-thousand-900-metre climb over 185-kilometres today. The Slovenian is however concerned about the state of his teammate Adam Yates, who was suffering from an upset stomach and ended 26 minutes behind stage winner Jasper Philipsen of Belgium yesterday. The Briton, who finished third in 2023, is a key teammate for Pogačar in the mountains.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-42-cents and the euro at 18-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-95-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-547-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-89-dollars-34-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-42-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….