News 13:00

BULLETIN 3 August 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Winter initiation deaths climb to 48
# Burnham vows to curb the number of people arriving in the UK on small boats
# And rugby: A Former Bok flyhalf is expected to join the Bulls’ coaching team

# The death toll from the winter initiation season has risen to 48, with Mpumalanga recording 18 deaths and the Eastern Cape 14. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs deputy minister Zolile Burns-Ncamashe says authorities are also concerned about rising fatalities in North West, reports of initiation-related abductions in Gauteng, and the spread of illegal initiation schools in the Free State. He says every initiation-related death is unacceptable, and calls for stricter enforcement to protect initiates.

# Gauteng police are investigating two separate fatal shootings in the De Deur policing precinct in the Sedibeng District. Four men were shot dead at a tavern in Thulamtwana yesterday, while a woman was wounded and taken to hospital. In a separate incident in Weilersfarm, two men were found fatally shot. Police spokesperson Brenda Muridili says no arrests have been made and the motives for both attacks are still under investigation.

# The Gauteng Health Department is calling on parents and guardians to support the school-based human papillomavirus vaccination drive by signing and returning consent forms. The drive targets Grades 5, 6 and 7 girls aged around nine years old. Spokesperson Steve Mabona says HPV is a common virus which can infect both boys and girls and causes cervical cancer in women later in life. He says the vaccine is very safe and effective:

Moving abroad:

# UK prime minister Andy Burnham says his government will be relentless in tackling small boat crossings across the English Channel. Official provisional figures suggest 14-thousand-526 have entered the UK so far this year, with more than two-thousand people crossing the channel in small boats since he became prime minister. Burnham says his government is changing the whole approach, with enforcement officials tackling people-smuggling gangs doubled on both sides of the channel:

# Rugby: A former Springbok flyhalf is expected to be named as the Bulls’ kicking coach soon. Fifty-eight-year-old Vlok Cilliers, who played one Test for South Africa against the All Blacks in 1996, recently returned from France, where he fulfilled the same role for the country’s national team. He was also the Bulls’ kicking coach between 2004 and 2014, helping the Pretoria team to win three Super Rugby and three Currie Cup titles. He then joined the Stormers before becoming part of France’s coaching team in 2019.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-48-cents and the euro at 18-rand-99-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-550-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-52-dollars-63-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-68-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….