News 16:00

BULLETIN 22 April 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Over three-thousand offenders were released on parole in 2023
# The MK Party’s founder vows an election victory despite ANC obstacles 
# And tennis: Simona Halep withdraws from Madrid

# The Department of Correctional Services has announced the release of three-thousand-159 offenders, including 760 prisoners who were paroled between August and November 2023. This was due to a special remission of sentence. Western Cape MEC for Community Safety and Police Oversight, Reagen Allen, notes that 113 parolees in the province have been re-arrested for various offenses, including assault, theft, and murder. He emphasises that parolees must adhere to parole conditions and the law:

# The founder of the MK Party, Jabulani Khumalo, has criticised the ANC leadership, asserting their inability to impede the party’s electoral success. He welcomes the ruling from the High Court in Durban, dismissing the ANC’s bid to halt the MK Party’s use of the uMkhonto we Sizwe trademark. This marks the second legal defeat for the ANC in their ongoing dispute with the MK Party. Khumalo says they are preparing for electoral triumph despite the challenges:

# US president Joe Biden condemned any anti-Semitism on college campuses as pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University spent their fifth day demanding the school sever financial ties with Israel. Students camped out on university grounds and are calling for the prestigious New York institution, which has an exchange programme with Tel Aviv University, to boycott all activities associated with Israel, in light of the country’s war with Hamas militants and the ensuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

# Tennis: Former world number one Simona Halep has withdrawn from this week’s Madrid Open in the Spanish capital. She says she needs more time to obtain maximum fitness after being out of action for 18 months while serving a doping ban. She recently returned as a wildcard in the Miami Open, but lost in the first round. The 32-year-old Romanian was among the world top ten when she was suspended, but her ranking has since plummeted to one-thousand-146, thus relying on wildcards to play in WTA tournaments.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-13-cents and the euro at 20-rand-35-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-57-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-889-dollars-68-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-343-dollars-21-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 86-dollars-47-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The African Children’s Summit, endorsed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, will convene in Johannesburg in August. The three-day event will host 500 children, both physically and virtually, to address social challenges. Last year’s summit in Nairobi paved the way for this Pan African conference, focusing on children’s rights and social security. Social Development deputy minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu underscored the summit’s empowerment goal towards children with disabilities:

Stay tuned for more news………….