News 17:00

BULLETIN 15 July 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Presidency says a disinformation campaign seeks to damage South Africa’s reputation
# The Madlanga Commission is to subpoena Suliman Carrim’s doctors and hospital
# And soccer: Tuchel says facing Argentina will bring out the best in his England side

# The Presidency says South Africa is the target of a disinformation campaign aimed at isolating the country from the rest of Africa. This follows concerns raised by some African countries over alleged xenophobic violence in South Africa. Government has rejected the allegations, insisting there is no evidence of widespread xenophobic attacks. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told the media an unnamed country is leading the campaign to spread false information about South Africa:

# The Madlanga Commission will subpoena businessman Suliman Carrim’s treating doctors and hospital after whistleblowers reported seeing him in public despite claims he was medically unfit to testify. Evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson also criticised Carrim’s failure to provide financial records linked to companies that received hundreds of millions of rand in government contracts. He says investigators are obtaining CCTV footage from alleged sightings in the Western Cape and North West:

# The National Student Financial Aid Scheme’s appointment of former Daybreak Farms board chairperson Bojane Segooa as executive manager for corporate services has drawn criticism. The DA alleges the appointment rewards a leader linked to labour abuses, financial mismanagement, and animal cruelty at Daybreak. Segooa denies any wrongdoing, saying her 625-thousand-rand exit payout was for work already completed. NSFAS Administrator Hlengani Mathebula defended the appointment, saying the recruitment process complied with his legal powers.

# ActionSA welcomes a labour court ruling dismissing an attempt by Tshwane municipal officials implicated in the Rooiwal tender investigation to stop disciplinary proceedings against them. The party’s Michael Beaumont says the judgment is a victory for accountability and justice following the 2023 Hammanskraal cholera outbreak. He says Mayor Nasiphi Moya’s administration acted decisively against corruption by pursuing disciplinary action, blacklisting companies linked to businessman Edwin Sodi and strengthening governance measures to restore public confidence in the metro.

# Soccer: England’s manager, Thomas Tuchel, believes the challenge of facing reigning champions Argentina and captain Lionel Messi will draw a better performance from his players. They will clash in the World Cup semifinals in Atlanta tonight, with the winner playing Spain in Sunday’s final. Argentina hopes to become the first team to retain their title since Brazil in 1962, while England had only won in 1966. Tuchel says they are ready:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-33-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-337-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-73-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-16-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….