News 13:00

BULLETIN 12 July 1 am

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa remembers Mabuza as a unifier of people
# The African Transformation Movement still wants to rename South Africa to Azania
# And the preliminary Air India crash report shows pilot confusion

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has remembered former deputy president David Mabuza as a unifier of both the ANC, Mpumalanga province, and the country. Mabuza has held the Chairperson position of the ANC in Mpumalanga for three terms. Reflecting on their time together at his funeral in Mbombela this morning, Ramaphosa recalled their shared efforts in 2017 to build and consolidate ANC unity. He said Mabuza went to great lengths to bring all sides together:

Mabuza’s son, David Junior Mabuza, remembers him as a disciplined and purposeful father:

# The African Transformation Movement has proposed renaming South Africa to Azania, calling it a powerful step toward decolonisation and cultural reclamation. ATM spokesperson, Zama Ntshona, says South Africa lacks a unique identity, being a geographic label imposed by colonial rule. Ntshona says that Azania, rooted in ancient African history, represents unity, heritage, and liberation. He emphasised the party believes the change would honour indigenous identity and ancestors, while rejecting imperialist legacies:

# Gauteng Health MEC, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, has welcomed newly appointed hospital board members to 34 public hospitals across the province. Speaking at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, she praised the one-thousand-500-plus applicants for their willingness to serve. The board’s aim is to boost governance and community trust. The MEC says they will help address service delivery and litigation issues with the new term running until March 2028:

# A preliminary report depicted confusion in the cockpit shortly before an Air India jetliner crashed last month, killing 260 people on board. According to investigators of India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, the plane’s engine fuel cutoff switches almost simultaneously flipped, starving the engines of fuel shortly after take-off. The report did not say how the switches could have flipped to the cutoff position. According to the report, one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. The other pilot responded that he did not do so.

# Tennis: For both number-8-seeded Iga Swiatek from Poland and number-13-seeded Amanda Anisimova from the US, it will be their first finals encounter at Wimbledon today. Anisimova has never played a Grand Slam final on any surface before, and while Swiatek has been in five Grand Slam finals before, she has only reached a quarter-final finish at Wimbledon. If 23-year-old Anisimova wins, she will be the youngest American victor since Williams in 2003. If Swiatek emerges the winner, she will be the first Pole – man or woman – to win a Wimbledon singles title in the Open era.

# And finally: Two male lions from Kgalagadi’s Twee Rivieren section have been released into the Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape, after weeks of acclimatising in a boma. Their arrival follows the recent introduction of two lionesses from !Khamab Reserve, boosting genetic diversity. This brings the total number of lions at Addo to nine. Meanwhile, two older males, Niklaas and Witwarm, have been relocated to Mountain Zebra National Park, also in the Eastern Cape, before release.

Stay tuned for more news………….