News 15:00

BULLETIN 16 July 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Gayton McKenzie slams Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s rebel-style briefing but backs his anti-corruption stance
# Tax Justice SA urges government to crack down on illicit cigarette trade syndicates
# And tennis: Britain’s Tara Moore is handed a four-year doping ban

# Sports, Arts and Culture minister Gayton McKenzie has criticised KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s briefing flanked by armed personnel, calling it a rebel-style move. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika after delivering the department’s budget, McKenzie said the style of the address was questionable, but the courage to speak out against wrongdoing in the Police Service was commendable and necessary. He expressed readiness to testify in the commission of inquiry over Mkhwanazi’s allegations:

#  Tax Justice SA founder, Yusuf Abramjee has welcomed Finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s acknowledgment of the devastating scale of the illicit cigarette trade. He says the minister’s acknowledgment that South Africa is struggling to plug a hole leaking 100-million-rand a day as a result of illicit cigarettes validates years of warnings. Abramjee says acknowledgment without action is worthless, and urged authorities to now crack down on the illicit cigarette trade syndicates in the country:

# The Green Connection is concerned about the recent approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment for Shell’s proposed Northern Cape Ultra Deep oil and gas exploration project. The project, located off the West Coast between Port Nolloth in the Northern Cape and Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape, would involve drilling five exploration wells and specialised seismic surveys to map the seabed. Green Connection’s Shahil Singh says this approval comes despite repeated objections raised by coastal communities and civil society:

Moving abroad:

# At least 248 people have been killed in southern Syria’s Sweida province following several days of clashes that triggered the deployment of government forces. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights the toll includes 92 members of the Druze minority, 28 of them civilians, with 21 killed in summary executions by government forces. At least 138 Syrian security personnel were killed, along with 18 allied Bedouin fighters. Israel’s Defence minister Israel Katz called on Syria to leave the Druze alone and promised no let-up in Israeli military attacks until that happened.

# Tennis: Britain’s Tara Moore has been handed a four-year ban after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs in April 2022. The 32-year-old was cleared in December 2023 after an independent tribunal determined that the result was caused by contaminated meat. But the International Tennis Integrity Agency appealed the ruling, which has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Britain’s former number one-ranked doubles player’s initial 19-month suspension will be credited towards her new ban.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-91-cents and the euro at 20-rand-81-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-1-cent and Bitcoin trades at 118-thousand-930-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-336-dollars-85-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-66-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….