News 16:00

BULLETIN 19 July 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The deputy director of Water and Sanitation is found dead after a hijacking
# Steenhuisen says the government of national unity is South Africa’s chance to overcome division
# And, rugby: No Currie Cup action tomorrow when the Boks take on Portugal

# The deputy director of the Department of Water and Sanitation, Sello Machitje, has been found dead after being reported missing on July 8. He was hijacked while traveling from Gauteng to the Eastern Cape. Machitje’s family received confirmation of his death this morning. Family spokesperson Sello Mphaga says they are awaiting more details from law enforcement while mourning the loss. Police are investigating whether a 53-year-old suspect, arrested with Machitje’s vehicle, is linked to his murder.

# DA leader John Steenhuisen says the government of national unity is South Africa’s chance to free itself from populism, division, and economic decline. He said in Parliament it offers a chance to overcome economic and social division. Steenhuisen says the government of national unity is an opportunity to build a prosperous South Africa, and the DA is committed to this goal in both the executive and Parliament:

Cosatu says the government of national unity needs to expedite the review of the fuel price regime to see where taxes can be reduced to give relief to consumers, commuters and the economy. Spokesperson Zanele Sabela says this week the International Monetary Fund maintained this year’s gross domestic product forecast for South Africa at 0.9-percent despite the country having gone more than three months without load-shedding:

# CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz says the company is actively working with customers impacted by a defect in a content update for Windows hosts. The defect resulted in a global tech outage that is disrupting operations in multiple industries, with airlines halting flights, some broadcasters off-air and everything from banking to healthcare hit by system problems. Kurtz emphasised it was not a security incident or an cyberattack. The issue has been fixed, with updates available on the support portal. CrowdStrike advises organisations to use official channels for communication.

# Rugby: No Currie Cup Premier Division matches will be played tomorrow, when the Springboks take on Portugal in Bloemfontein. Today, the Lions are hosting Griquas in Johannesburg, the Bulls and the Cheetahs will do battle in Pretoria and the Sharks will welcome the Pumas to Durban. On Sunday, the Griffons will host Western Province in Welkom. The Cheetahs are currently on top of the log with 10 points after two bonus-point victories, followed by the Lions, the Bulls, Griquas, the Pumas, the Sharks, Province and the Griffons.

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-32-cents and the euro at 19-rand-96-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-68-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-209-dollars-50-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-408-dollars-33-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….