News 18:00

BULLETIN 13 June 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Eastern Cape flood death toll rises to 79
# The arrival of SANDF soldiers from the DRC is delayed
# And tennis: Wimbledon’s singles champions will earn over 72-million-rand each this year

# The death toll from the Eastern Cape floods has risen to 79 after recovery teams found a young girl’s body near the Efata River in Mthatha. Over one-thousand people remain displaced. Provincial Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa says post-mortems have been completed on 70 bodies, with 30 already released to families. Eight more autopsies are underway. Authorities expect the toll to rise as some families are yet to locate and identify loved ones.

Meanwhile, president Cyril Ramaphosa says these deadly floods are a clear sign of the growing impact of climate change. During his visit to Mthatha, he said floods during winter are unusual and this shows how climate change is disrupting weather patterns. Ramaphosa warned that extreme weather is now a reality in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, where homes, roads, and public infrastructure are repeatedly destroyed:

# The first group of 249 South African National Defence Force soldiers returning from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is only expected in South Africa tonight or tomorrow. The soldiers were initially set to fly with Tanzania Airlines, but will now arrive via a larger Kenya Airways aircraft. Defence minister Angie Motshekga says they’re on board and awaiting take-off. Motshekga says the soldiers will undergo demobilisation and psychosocial support:

# Hindu temples across north-west London held prayers for victims of the Air India crash in Ahmedabad, led by spiritual leader Shri Rajrajeshwar Guruji. The London-bound flight went down shortly after take-off yesterday, killing at least 241 people. A British man, Vishwashkumar Ramesh, who was in seat 11A when it crashed shortly after take-off, was the sole survivor. Harrow East member of Parliament, Bob Blackman, confirmed some victims had ties to local temples as the Gujarati community in Harrow, Brent and Hounslow was especially shaken.

# Tennis: The singles champions at Wimbledon will take home a whopping 72.6-million-rand each this year. The organisers announced a seven-percent increase in prize money for the iconic grasscourt Grand Slam tournament, starting in London on the 30th of this month. The total purse of almost 1.3-billion-rand is double that of a decade ago. Even players eliminated in the first round will receive 1.6-million-rand just for participating in the main draw. Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic are the defending singles champions.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-93-cents and the euro at 20-rand-69-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-30-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-307-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-433-dollars-53-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-47-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….