News 12:00

BULLETIN 24 April 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Commissioner Masemola says police’s intelligence structures are clamping down on the illicit flow of drugs
# The remains of all the victims of the Limpopo Easter weekend bus crash are now identified 
# And rugby: An injury could rule Steven Kitshoff out for the Springboks’ mid-year internationals 

# National police commissioner, Fannie Masemola, says since the launch of Operation Shanela in May last year, 49-thousand-851 suspects have been arrested for drug possession. Since October last year, KwaZulu-Natal police have recorded several cocaine busts at the Durban Harbour and King Shaka International Airports, valued at 1.5-billion-rand. Masemola says intelligence structures within the police service are hard at work in clamping down on the illicit flow of drugs into the country:

# Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba says all 45 victims of the Easter weekend bus crash have been identified through DNA processes. The bus carrying members of the St Engenas Zion Christian Church from Molepolole in Botswana left the road and plunged off the Mmamatlakala Bridge on the R518 on the 28th of last month. An eight-year-old girl was the only survivor. Ramathuba’s spokesperson, Thilivhali Muavha, says a multidisciplinary team is ready to repatriate the remains to Botswana:

# An Australian radio presenter wants former All Blacks rugby player Sonny Bill Williams to be sacked from his role as commentator for Channel 9. This follows Williams’s social media posts about the conflict between Israel and Hamas in which he made no secret of his support for Palestine. Ray Hadley says it was embarrassing for him to be employed by the same company as Williams, believing management should fire him. He describes 38-year-old Williams as a lunatic who should go to Gaza and stay there.

# Rugby: Two-time World Cup winner, Steven Kitshoff, might not recover in time for the Springboks’ Test series against Six Nations champions Ireland in July. He suffered a knee injury during Ulster’s Challenge Cup quarterfinal loss to Clermont, and has been ruled out of the remainder of the United Rugby Championship campaign. The 32-year-old prop has returned to South Africa to visit a knee specialist. Kitshoff will return to the Stormers next season.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-11-cents and the euro at 20-rand-43-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-76-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-702-dollars-25-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-318-dollars-90-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 88-dollars-33-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Iziko Museums of South Africa is offering free entry to selected museums on Freedom Day on Saturday. The participating museums offering free entrance include the Bo-Kaap Museum, South African National Gallery, Slave Lodge and South African Museum in Cape Town. The Iziko Museums of South Africa says from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon, people can explore and engage with the rich cultural and historical heritage sitting within iconic institutions at no cost.

Stay tuned for more news………….