News 13:00

BULLETIN 1 July 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA rejects Dina Pule’s appointment as minister of Social Development
# A court considers a 12-year sentence for Matlala as too lenient
# And soccer: The Dutch coach resigns after the team’s World Cup exit

# The DA rejects president Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to appoint Dina Pule as new minister of Social Development, saying her string of scandals includes accusations of funnelling contracts to her boyfriend and misusing government resources. She was minister of Communications from October 2011 until she was fired in July 2013. The DA’s Nazley Sharif says Ramaphosa has chosen ANC Women’s League interests over the interests of millions who rely on social grants:

# The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has rejected businessman Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala’s eight-year prison sentence plea for fraud, corruption and money laundering linked to a 228.6-million-rand SAPS-Medicare24 tender. Magistrate Ignatius du Preez described Matlala as the scheme’s mastermind. He questioned whether his cooperation reflects genuine remorse or an attempt to secure a lighter sentence. Du Preez proposed a 12-year prison term, subject to the deliberations between the state and defence:

# The Department of Correctional Services has officially assumed full operational responsibility for the Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein in the Free State. It made headlines following the escape of rape and murder convict Thabo Bester in May 2022. It has been renamed the Grootvlei Maximum Correctional Centre, covering the Free State and the Northern Cape. Spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo says the takeover process has been underway for the past two years:

Moving abroad:

# US president Donald Trump raked in more than 16.4-billion-rand through an array of cryptocurrency holdings, royalty payments and property investments last year. His latest annual financial disclosure shows he netted over 10.4-billion-rand in sales of souvenir-type meme coins stamped with his face. Trump also reported an income of more than 8.2-billion-rand from sales of cryptocurrency tokens tied to the firm World Liberty Financial, managed in part by his sons. The White House has strongly denied allegations that Trump is conflicted by his financial interests.

# Soccer: Ronald Koeman announced his resignation as head coach of the Netherlands after his charges were eliminated in the World Cup’s round of 32. The finalist of 2010 lost 3-2 to Morocco on penalties in Monterrey, Mexico. It also emerged that Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville suffered racist abuse online after missing their penalties. Sixty-three-year-old Koeman joined the Netherlands for a second spell as manager in 2023 after coaching them from 2018 to 2020. He hinted his managerial career may have ended altogether.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-41-cents and the euro at 18-rand-70-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-901-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-978-dollars-63-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-76-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….