News 15:00

BULLETIN 26 June 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Two South African National Defence Force soldiers are killed in a mortar attack in the DRC
# There are no plans to relocate the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature to uLundi
# And Rugby: Ardie Savea says the All Blacks must stand up to the firepower of England’s forwards

# The South African National Defence Force has confirmed a deadly mortar attack on their base in Sake, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo yesterday. The attack resulted in two fatalities and twenty injuries. Four critically injured soldiers have been hospitalised, while those with minor injuries will be discharged soon. Families of the deceased have been informed, and procedures to repatriate their remains are underway:

# KwaZulu-Natal premier Thami Ntuli says there are no immediate plans to relocate the provincial legislature from Pietermaritzburg to uLundi. Moving the legislature was part of the IFP’s election promises. It was relocated to Pietermaritzburg in 2004 when the ANC took power from the IFP. Ntuli presented the newly constituted KwaZulu-Natal executive council to king Misuzulu ka Zwelithini:

# Two police officers aged 47 were sentenced to ten years direct imprisonment for extortion and corruption by the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Ekurhuleni. The National Prosecuting Authority’s spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane says in November 2020, police received a tip-off about the suspect branding clothes with the SAPS logo in Rivonia. Mjonondwane says on arrival, Lehlogonolo Tsagane and Jabulani Ngobeni illegally demanded 1.5-million-rand from Maxwell Chiyangwa, but settled for 14-thousand-rand after threatening Chiyangwa with an arrest:

# Rugby: Vice captain Ardie Savea says the All Blacks must “front up” to the firepower of England’s forwards to avoid a repeat of their shock 2019 defeat. New Zealand will play their first game of the year when they host England on 6 July in Dunedin before the teams meet again the following Saturday at Auckland’s Eden Park. The All Blacks haven’t beaten the touring visitors since 2018. New Zealand were stunned 19-7 in the semi-finals of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-14-cents and the euro at 19-rand-39-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-9-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-442-dollars-28-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-307-dollars-34-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-75-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The City of Cape Town secured 3.5-billion-rand from Nedbank for a three-year infrastructure investment project. Approved by the city council, this is part of a 39.5-billion-rand plan running until June 2027 and aimed at creating 120-thousand construction jobs. According to Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, the cash injection is South Africa’s largest investment ever for a metropolitan infrastructure project. The city also received 2.7-billion-rand from the International Finance Corporation and 1.95-billion-rand from the Agence Française de Développement.

Stay tuned for more news………….