News 13:00

BULLETIN 8 July 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA backs an independent inquiry and lifestyle audits for senior police officials
# Tennis: Wimbledon apologises for a technical glitch
# And Cape Town’s cruise season breaks records with a 1.3-billion-rand boost to the local economy

# The DA supports the call for an independent commission of inquiry and lifestyle audits for all senior police officials. This follows damning allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, including against Police minister Senzo Mchunu. He alleged political interference by Mchunu in the disbandment of the political killings task team. The DA’s Lisa Schickerling says they cannot allow the uniform of law enforcement to become a cloak for corruption:

Meanwhile, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union says Mkhwanazi’s claims have serious implications for the integrity of the criminal justice system. The union has called for calm and urged that the matter be handled through independent processes to avoid further damage to public confidence. Popcru’s Richard Mamabolo says political interference must be avoided, and officials must remain focused on fighting crime and upholding the rule of law:

# Eskom says it continues to remove illegal connections as part of its efforts to protect infrastructure and ensure a reliable electricity supply. The power utility’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says in some areas, they are seeing an increase in transformer trips, particularly in the evenings, due to overloading. She says this is often the result of meter bypasses and illegal connections, especially in communities with a high number of backyard dwellings, or where residential properties have been converted into small businesses:

# Tennis: Wimbledon was forced to apologise for a controversy on Centre Court during the first tournament since the abolishment of line judges. The electronic line calling system apparently went down during the round of 16 match between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from Russia and local player Sonay Kartal. German umpire Nico Helwerth was criticised for not overruling when a ball missed the line by a wide margin, but wasn’t called out. The Russian won in straight sets. Helwerth wasn’t appointed to officiate a match yesterday.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-77-cents and the euro at 20-rand-88-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-19-cents and Bitcoin trades at 108-thousand-352-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-326-dollars-24-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-79-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Cape Town’s 2024/25 cruise season has closed on a high, with 83 ship calls, eleven of them inaugural visits. Passenger and crew numbers rose by 16-percent. The season contributed 1.32-billion-rand to the local economy and supported two-thousand jobs. In March alone, Cruise Cape Town recorded a historic 22 ship visits, the highest number seen in a single month this season. Other highlights include Cunard’s Queen Anne’s first visit to South African shores in April. Officials say the cruise sector is key to Cape Town’s tourism growth and job creation goals.

Stay tuned for more news………….