News 18:00

BULLETIN 1 July 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Justice Madlanga warns Feroz Khan’s lawyers over media remarks
# The NPA expresses concern as the Commercial Crimes Court increases Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s sentence
# And, the frontman of The Village People, Victor Willis, dies aged 74

# The chairpersonn of the Madlanga Commission, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, has cautioned suspended Crime Intelligence deputy head Feroz Khan’s legal team including advocate Zubair Khan, against making comments that commission witnesses are being killed because of information leaking from the inquiry. This follows remarks made during a media interview after Khan’s reported attempted assassination. Justice Madlanga stressed that such statements could undermine the commission’s integrity and urged legal representatives to exercise restraint:

# The National Prosecuting Authority are waiting for the defence response after the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court’s magistrate Ignatius du Preez extended businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s prison sentence to 12 years. The state and defence previously agreed on an eight-year sentence for fraud, corruption and money laundering linked to a 228.6-million-rand SAPS-Medicare24 tender. Du Preez termed the plea deal unjust. NPA’s Kaizer Kganyago says they will return to court on 13 July:

# The Gauteng Department of Health refutes social media claims of a body backlog at Helen Joseph Hospital mortuary, saying the allegations are based on an old and misleading video. The department’s Steve Mabona confirms that the facility has adequate capacity, with 77 storage spaces and 25 bodies currently held. He says families collect bodies daily and that there is no backlog, while seven unclaimed cases are being processed according to protocol:

# Victor Willis, the frontman of the 1970s disco group Village People, has died at the age of 74 after a short but aggressive illness. The Texas-born musician was the lead singer and co-writer of the band’s biggest hits including YMCA, Go West and In The Navy. The group became international stars in the 70s by performing while dressed as archetypal macho characters. Willis was alternately a policeman and a naval officer. He left the band in 1980 but rejoined in 2017 and performed YMCA at US President Donald Trump’s pre-inauguration rally in January 2025.

# Soccer: Friday’s round of 32 clash between Portugal and Croatia could see two outfield players over 40 face off at a World Cup for the first time. The two captains, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric, played six seasons together for Spanish giants Real Madrid, but will play in different teams this time. It is said they are struggling to defy Father Time, while both players are facing the question whether their status as national heroes had become more of a burden than a boost to their teams.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-36-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-65-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-72-cents and Bitcoin trades at 59-thousand-850-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-92-dollars-60-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….