News 13:00

BULLETIN NEWS AGENCY 9 July 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A pre-trial date is set for Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s corruption case
# The Public Service Commission urges consequences for government’s failure to pay service providers on time
# And, rugby: The Boks are targeting the breakdown to prevent Ireland from slowing the game down

# The pre-trial date for former National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s corruption case is set for 16 October at the High Court in Pretoria. Mapisa-Nqakula, out on 50-thousand-rand bail, faces 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering. She is accused of receiving over two-million-rand in kickbacks from a contract during her tenure as Defence minister. Mapisa-Nqakula stands alone in the case as the state decided not to charge anyone else.

# The Public Service Commission has highlighted concerns over government’s failure to pay service providers on time, as revealed in Treasury’s recent report. Over 10-billion-rand in invoices remains unpaid from the 2023/24 financial year, impacting businesses. Departments like Justice and Constitutional Development, and Public Works were noted for defaults. Commissioner Anele Gxoyiya emphasises the need for accountability, suggesting consequences for accounting officials who exceed the 30-day payment window for invoices.

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed sadness at the passing of four South African National Defence Force members in North West. They died due to suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in Orkney last week Friday. The soldiers had been deployed on a 24-hour shift at a dormant mining shaft near the disused Harry Oppenheimer Stadium, which has been a hot spot for illegal mining. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says the president’s thoughts are also with the team of soldiers who discovered their colleagues:

# Rugby: The breakdown will be a big focus for the Springboks when they take on Ireland in the second and final Test in Durban on Saturday. The Boks won the opening encounter 27-20, despite a concerted effort from the Irish to slow down the ball at the breakdown. Attacking coach Tony Brown says South Africa will have to be more accurate to ensure better attacking opportunities:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-12-cents and the euro at 19-rand-61-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-21-cents and Bitcoin trades at 57-thousand-506-dollars-44-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-362-dollars-60-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-30-cents a barrel.

# And, finally: The INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard has ranked Cape Town ninth out of 100 urban areas for traffic congestion. INRIX measures congestion by calculating the hours lost during peak commute times compared to off-peak periods relative to a city’s population. The Mother City, home to 4.6 million people, also ranks second in Africa for congestion according to the TomTom Traffic Index. The city says it will spend 444-million-rand to relieve traffic congestion over the next three years.

Stay tuned for more news………….