News 13:00

BULLETIN 21 July 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Activists and Citizens Forum says it’s too late for the ANC to label Jacob Zuma a sellout
# The interviews for IEC commissioners begin
# And cricket: England will stage the next three World Test Championship finals

# The Activists and Citizens Forum says the ANC is tasting its own medicine and it’s too late to find out only now that their former president, Jacob Zuma, is a sellout. The party made the statement after Zuma’ recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. The forum’s spokesperson, Dennis Bloem, says the ANC lied to the people of South Africa:

# Interviews for three vacant Electoral Commission posts started in Midrand, Gauteng. A panel including chief justice Mandisa Maya, Human Rights Commission chairperson Chris Nissen, Commission for Gender Equality chairperson Nthabiseng Sepanya-Mogale, and Public Protector, Kholeka Gcaleka, will assess candidates over two days. Among those shortlisted are current IEC chair, Mosotho Moepya, and KwaZulu-Natal High Court Judge Dhaya Pillay. According to the IEC, one role must be filled by a High Court judge. Final appointments will be made by president Cyril Ramaphosa for seven-year terms.

# Solidarity has accused FlySafair of refusing intervention from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration in the pilots’ strike, which started this morning. The airline has already cancelled over 20 flights due to the labour action. The union is demanding a 10.5-percent salary increase while the low-cost airline is offering 5.7-percent. Solidarity’s Helgard Cronjé says the pilots are simply asking for their salaries to be rectified after the salary cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic:

# Cricket: The International Cricket Council has confirmed England as the host of the next three World Test Championship finals in 2027, ’29 and ’31. All of the first three showpieces have been held in England, with the most recent, this year’s edition last month, saw South Africa beat Australia to be crowned champions at Lord’s. England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould says this is a testament to the passion that fans have for this treasured format of the game.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-71-cents and the euro at 20-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-81-cents and Bitcoin trades at 118-thousand-865-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-365-dollars-58-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-29-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The superhero reboot Superman has topped the North American box office in its second weekend. The movie stars David Corenswet as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Universal’s Jurassic World Rebirth remained in second place, while Sony’s I Know What You Did Last Summer debuted at number three. Another newcomer, Paramount’s animated adventure Smurfs, opened in fourth place with Brad Pitt’s F1: The Movie, which is Apple’s highest-grossing movie to date, rounding out the top five.

Stay tuned for more news………….