News 16:00

BULLETIN 3 July 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Treasury cautions the SARB Ownership Bill may hurt investment and stability
# The SABC confirms the Afrikaans TV news remains on air as-is for July
# And rugby: Fiji believes they can beat the Wallabies in Sunday’s Test in Newcastle

# The National Treasury has cautioned that changing the South African Reserve Bank’s ownership could alarm investors and threaten property rights. Treasury’s Chris Axelson told lawmakers in Cape Town the move could harm investment and growth, and carry major cost implications. Parliament’s Finance committee is reviewing a bill to make the state the sole shareholder and grant the Finance minister power to appoint directors. The Treasury warns the proposal could undermine governance and economic stability.

# The SABC has confirmed there will be no changes to the Afrikaans TV news bulletin schedule this month. The broadcaster emphasised the news will continue to air in its current weekday and weekend time slots. This reassurance follows a series of schedule changes, including a move from SABC2 to SABC3 and changes to the time of the broadcast. The SABC says its current schedule will remain unchanged.

# The Gauteng Health Department says it’s closely monitoring health facilities affected by ongoing Rand Water maintenance around Johannesburg, set to continue until 21 July. Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital remains fully operational, with 75-percent of its nine-million-litre water storage still available. The department’s Motalatale Modiba says at Helen Joseph Hospital, emergency cases are prioritised due to low water levels, while tankers have been deployed:

# ActionSA is calling on government and the Ministry of Police to protect whistleblowers. This follows the murder of the Head of Corporate and Forensic Audits in the City of Ekurhuleni, Mpho Mafole, in Kempton Park. ActionSA’s Michael Basch says the killing marks the second fatality and third violent attack on senior officials within the metro’s Finance Department since 2023:

# Rugby: Fiji believes they can beat the Wallabies in Sunday’s Test in Newcastle which the Australians are using as warm-up for the series against the British and Irish Lions. The islanders are now ninth in the world rankings – just one position behind the Wallabies. Australia is under pressure after losing seven of their 13 Tests last season, and losing to Fiji in the 2023 World Cup in France. The first of the three Tests against the Lions will be played in Brisbane on the 19th.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-52-cents and the euro at 20-rand-65-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-92-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-621-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-349-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-53-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….