News 13:00

BULLETIN 14 July 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Postmortems reveal the Tshuma family died from blunt force trauma
# De Beers suspends production at South Africa’s largest diamond mine
# And rugby: The injured Welsh captain is set to miss Saturday’s clash against the Springboks

# Forensic post-mortems have confirmed the wife and daughters of a Zimbabwean-British citizen who were murdered in England, died from blunt force trauma. The bodies of Nothabo, Natalie and Nala Tshuma were found at their home in Bedfordshire last Monday. Nothabo’s husband, Ndodana, was arrested in Johannesburg on Friday after he fled Britain. He remains in custody after appearing in the local Magistrate’s Court, charged with illegal firearm possession, while extradition proceedings to the UK are considered. Tshuma’s case has been postponed while authorities verify his immigration status.

# De Beers has announced it will suspend production at its Venetia mine in Limpopo, South Africa’s largest diamond mine, for two years, as part of a cost-cutting and restructuring plan. According to News24, the mine, which produces about 40-percent of the country’s diamonds, will use the pause to upgrade key underground infrastructure while Anglo American continues efforts to sell its stake in De Beers. The company says affected employees will be supported, and production targets will be maintained through its other operations.

# ActionSA says the collapse of the City of Johannesburg’s municipal billing system is not merely an administrative inconvenience, but represents a fundamental breakdown in the relationship between a city and the people it serves. Residents are increasingly being hit with confusing municipal bills, unexplained arrears, disputed charges and the threat of disconnection. ActionSA’s Mpumi Edward says residents pay for services, and government is supposed to deliver those services efficiently:

Moving abroad:

# US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has vowed to dismantle the International Criminal Court, accusing it of waging a war against America. President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed a slew of sanctions against ICC officials for their attempts to investigate the US and Israel. Rubio has accused the ICC of being backed and run by a powerful network of leftist non-government organisations, smug globalists, and hostile Third World governments:

# Rugby: Welsh captain Dewi Lake is set to miss Saturday’s Nations Championship clash against South Africa in Durban. He suffered a groin injury in their 35-31 defeat to Argentina last weekend. Lake has started all eleven Tests since coach Steve Tandy took charge last year. Ryan Elias, who could make his first Test start since the opening round of the 2024 Six Nations against Scotland, is likely to play in the number two jersey, with Elliot Dee as cover. Jac Morgan will take over the captaincy.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-47-cents and the euro at 18-rand-77-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-3-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-608-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-18-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-67-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….