News 13:00

BULLETIN 14 June 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# MPs are sworn in before the election of the speaker and the president 
# Treasury is looking to unlock more renewables with the private sector’s help 
# And cricket: Afghanistan qualifies for the T20 World Cup Super Eight round while New Zealand is eliminated 

# President Cyril Ramaphosa and deputy president Paul Mashatile were among the first ten Members of Parliament to be sworn in during the first sitting of the seventh administration at Cape Town International Convention Centre. The National Assembly will also elect the speaker, deputy speaker and president, despite legal challenges from the MK Party. Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who chairs the session, expressed the significance of this moment as the nation celebrates 30-years of democracy:

Meanwhile, EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu says the party leaders who formed the progressive caucus have written to the ANC to say they are going to negotiate collectively on the government of national unity. Shivambu was speaking during a media briefing in Cape Town. He pleaded with the ANC to not agree to a governance model with the DA. He adds that the ANC must not join forces rooted in apartheid:

# The National Treasury says it is working hard to pilot a model that can bring in the private sector to help scale up investment for more renewables. The government has concluded that private finance and capacity would be required if South Africa is to add the grid infrastructure needed to unlock more renewables. This includes one-thousand-400 kilometres a year of new power lines by 2032. Treasury deputy director-general Mmakgoshi Lekhethe says they are also seeking to unlock the 1.5-trillion-rand in pledges made to the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan.

 # Cricket: New Zealand will exit the T20 World Cup after the group stage after Afghanistan beat Papua New Guinea to advance to the Super Eight round. Fazal Farooqi remains the best bowler in the competition after taking another three wickets in Trinidad. PNG was skittled out for just 95 and Afghanistan reached the target in their 16th over with three wickets down. New Zealand lost their first two matches and is in fifth place in Group C, with co-hosts the West Indies second behind Afghanistan.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-37-cents and the euro at 19-rand-63-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-36-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-993-dollars-2-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-316-dollars-17-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-55-cents a barrel

# And finally: Table Mountain has claimed fame as South Africa’s busiest and most popular hiking venue and a global hotspot for Instagrammers. A survey by Explore Worldwide revealed its popularity, with one-thousand-189 Instagram posts per kilometre of trail, ranking seventh worldwide. In comparison, Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia was ranked the world’s most crowded hike with more than 22-thousand Instagram posts per kilometre. Second place went to the Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru, with six-thousand-723 posts.

Stay tuned for more news………….