News 16:00

BULLETIN 23 July 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Former minister Zizi Kodwa’s corruption case has been postponed to 21 August
# Political parties criticise Parliament’s temporary sitting in a marquee
# And, rugby: The injured Faf de Klerk won’t go to Australia

# Former Sport, Arts, and Culture minister Zizi Kodwa’s corruption case has been postponed to 21 August at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Gauteng. Kodwa, who stepped down after his arrest, faces allegations of receiving bribes totalling 1.6-million-rand, following state capture report findings. His lawyer, Zola Majola, insists the state must prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt:

# Political parties have criticised a decision to hold National Assembly meetings in the Nieuwmeester Marquee in Cape Town. Speaker Thoko Didiza suggested that the dome used for Nelson Mandela’s funeral should be utilised. IFP MP Nhlanhla Hadebe says Parliament should not take pride in meeting in a tent. DA MP George Michalakis calls for a permanent meeting place:

# South African firms say they recovered quickly from the massive IT outage caused by a faulty CrowdStrike patch on Friday. Capitec, Absa, Safair, Airlink, South African Airways, and the City of Tshwane all resolved their IT issues, reporting no direct financial losses. Both Capitec and Absa are now assessing future risk mitigation measures. Meanwhile, airlines that experienced issues affecting online payments also claim to have recovered and that no major impact was encountered.

# Rugby: Double World Cup-winning scrumhalf Faf de Klerk wasn’t named in Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’s squad for the Australian leg of the Rugby Championship. He is nursing an undisclosed injury, but was named on the injury list, along with Jaden Hendrikse, Herschel Jantjies, Canan Moodie and Steven Kitshoff. Loose-forward Ben-Jason Dickson, who impressed against Portugal in his first start, says the Bok camp is very inviting:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-41-cents and the euro at 19-rand-99-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-78-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-611-dollars-55-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-407-dollars-39-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-86-cents a barrel.

# And, the United Nations has warned that this year’s political decisions will be crucial in meeting the 2030 target to end AIDS as a public health threat. While 2023 saw declines in new infections and AIDS-related deaths, UNAIDS cautions that progress is fragile. Nearly 40-million people live with HIV, and last year saw 1.3-million new infections. Access to anti-retroviral medication has improved, but UNAIDS calls for broader access and lower drug prices to meet future goals.

Stay tuned for more news………….