News 17:00

BULLETIN 18 June 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa launches the Milestones of Freedom Programme and calls for renewed national unity
# The DA says 56-percent of police stations are unreachable by phone
# And soccer: Ronwen Williams rejects a viral fake quote and calls for African unity

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched the Milestones of Freedom Programme at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. He called on South Africans to renew the promise of democracy and actively participate in shaping the country’s future. Ramaphosa highlighted the 1956 women’s march, the forced removals from District Six in Cape Town, the 1976 Soweto uprising, and the adoption of the Constitution as defining moments in South Africa’s history:

# The DA says 56-percent police stations cannot be reached by phone. Its nationwide audit found that 571 out of over one-thousand police stations did not answer their listed official numbers. Limpopo had the poorest response rate, followed by the Free State. The DA’s Ian Cameron says the findings highlight ongoing challenges within the police service, including staff shortages, outdated technology and communication failures:

# The South African Weather Service says cold to cool conditions are expected across much of the country from today, affecting Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the Free State, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. A Yellow Level 1 warning has been issued for strong winds in the western Northern Cape until Saturday, which may disrupt travel. Forecasters also expect isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers in parts of the country through the weekend. Motorists are urged to exercise caution, particularly in windy areas of the Northern Cape.

# Explosions and gunfire were heard at the airport in Niger’s capital of Niamey. A witness told AFP the gunfire, which lasted for two hours, came from the entrance at the Diori Hamani international airport. Niger has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for a decade and in January suspected jihadists launched an attack on the same airport. In recent weeks, local authorities have demolished neighbourhoods near the airport, citing terrorist risks. They have also extended the airport’s perimeter fence and installed more than 350 surveillance cameras.

# Soccer: Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams has dismissed a viral fake quote that surfaced after South Africa’s 2-nil defeat to Mexico, falsely claiming he criticised Africans for supporting the opposition. Speaking in Atlanta, Williams said he never made the comments and reaffirmed his belief in African unity. The goalkeeper urged people to leave politics to politicians and allow football to bring people together amid crucial match against Czechia at 6pm:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-41-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-82-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-71-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-287-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-258-dollars-33-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….