News 18:00

BULLETIN 15 July 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA says the US denied Mcebisi Jonas a diplomatic visa months ago already
# The MK Party reports minister Senzo Mchunu to Parliament’s Ethics Committee
# And rugby: Siya Kolisi returns for the Boks, with an all-new front row against Georgia

# The DA says president Cyril Ramaphosa was aware months ago that former deputy Finance minister Mcebisi Jonas was denied a diplomatic visa by the US and that his credentials were rejected in May. Despite this, Jonas remained the official envoy, leaving South Africa without proper representation in Washington, DC. The DA’s Emma Louise Powell calls for the urgent appointment of a credible new envoy to mend strained relations as looming US tariffs pose a serious threat to exports:

# The MK Party has reported Police minister Senzo Mchunu to Parliament’s Ethics Committee, accusing him of misleading the National Assembly about his relationship with people named in a police interference scandal. The party accuses Mchunu of lying under oath by providing conflicting statements. In a media briefing, MK’s David Skosana said Mchunu’s actions have damaged public trust and have compromised the integrity of Parliament:

# Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says the State Security Agency’s new national security strategy focuses on modern, coordinated responses to evolving threats. Addressing the media, Ntshavheni said the strategy, approved by the cabinet, is built on eight pillars, including cyber security, border protection, economic resilience, environmental protection, and cultural security. She adds the plan takes a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach and embeds intelligence at the core of crisis prevention and strategic foresight.

# Electoral Commission CEO Sy Mamabolo has confirmed that social media played a central role in the 2024 election communication campaign. Speaking to Parliament’s Home Affairs portfolio committee, Mamabolo said the campaign used both organic and paid content across popular platforms including Facebook, and generated over 203-million impressions. SMS and Please Call Me messages reached millions more. Mamabolo says a live website chat enabled real-time voter support:

# Rugby: An all-new front row will anchor the Springboks’ scrum in Saturday’s one-off Test against Georgia in Mbombela, with Boan Venter, Marnus van der Merwe and Neethling Fouché all due to make their Test debuts. Fouché and Van der Merwe did play for South Africa in the recent match against the Barbarians in Cape Town. Captain Siya Kolisi returns after an injury lay-off, and will form the lose trio together with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Cobus Wiese. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Grant Williams are the half-back pairing.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-85-cents and the euro at 20-rand-75-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 117-thousand-591-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-356-dollars-17-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-44-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….