News 17:00

BULLETIN 9 May 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Labour minister describes the site of the collapsed George building as a crime scene
# The National Assembly delays a motion on the party funding gap 
# And rugby: The struggling Crusaders welcome back two All Black loose-forwards 

# Labour minister Thulas Nxesi has expressed condolences after the collapse of a building under construction in George, describing the site as a crime scene. Speaking on site, the minister pledged his department’s full commitment to investigate the incident. Nxesi urged political parties to avoid politicising the tragedy and cautioned against speculation, emphasising the importance of proper investigations. He also announced plans to involve various departments, including International Relations and Cooperation, to enhance communication with affected foreign nationals:

# The National Assembly has postponed a motion to address a gap in party funding legislation, allowing political parties to accept undeclared donations for a week. News24 reports the delay comes amidst consultations between parties regarding the Electoral Matters Amendment Act, which inadvertently left party funding regulations unresolved. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent assent to the act effectively removes regulations requiring the declaration of donations over 100-thousand-rand and limiting donations to 15-million-rand per year. Opposition parties question the delay and seek clarity on the legislation’s status. Further consultations are scheduled for the next sitting.

# The Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union has announced a boycott of International Nurses Day as a protest against the exploitation and poor working conditions faced by nurses. According to the union, there are severe cutbacks in healthcare funding, lack of basic supplies and equipment, and exploitation by labour brokers. Haitu’s general secretary, Lerato Mthunzi, says nurses are compelled to break their professional pledge due to impossible working conditions:

# Rugby: The struggling Crusaders have welcomed back two All Black. Codie Taylor returns to the defending Super Rugby champions after taking a sabbatical after the World Cup, while Tamaiti Williams recovered from a hamstring injury. Under-fire head coach Rob Penney says the two loose-forwards will add huge value to the team. The Crusaders won the competition seven years in a row when current All Black coach Scott Robertson was their coach, but could only win two of their eight matches so far this year.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-48-cents and the euro at 19-rand-88-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-8-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-336-dollars-18-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-313-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-59-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The University of Pretoria’s Nicholas Joubert has completed three degrees over five years while also building a music career and releasing a debut single. The 28-year-old recently graduated with a master’s degree in Strategic Management. He also completed his Business Management and Communication Management degrees in 2020 and ’22, respectively. Joubert’s debut single, Someone New, charted on South African radio stations and even on playlists in the UK and Australia. He says despite his growing musical popularity, he is determined to keep building on his academic qualifications.

Stay tuned for more news………….