News 12:00

BULLETIN 13 May 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The George building collapse death toll rises to 24 
# Thabo Mbeki calls for an inquest into chief Albert Luthuli’s death
# And rugby: The Bok Women’s coach is proud of their World Cup qualification 

# The George Municipality has confirmed that three more bodies have been retrieved from the rubble of last Monday’s building collapse, raising the death toll to 24. At least 81 people were on the site at the time of the incident, and 28 remain trapped under the rubble. International Relations deputy minister Alvin Botes and representatives of the Mozambican, Malawian, and Zimbabwean embassies will meet with families today.

Meanwhile, the George Forensic Pathology Services says the process of identifying the victims will be tedious. A single formal identification process has been completed out of the bodies which have been recovered. The services’ assistant director, Floyd Herwels, says the bodies are in a state of decomposition and therefore they are fast-tracking the identification process:

# Former president Thabo Mbeki has advocated for an inquest into the death of Nobel laureate Chief Albert Luthuli 57 years ago. Luthuli was the ANC leader from 1952 until his death in 1967, when he was struck by a train while crossing a trestle bridge over the Umvoti River in KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal. Mbeki spoke at a wreath-laying ceremony at the site and said it was important to uncover the truth surrounding Luthuli’s death:

# Rugby: Springbok Women’s coach Louis Koen says qualifying for next year’s World Cup in England is a proud moment and very special. South Africa beat Madagascar by 46-17 to defend their title as African champions and seal their spot in the World Cup. Koen says qualifying is a massive boost to all involved players, management, and stakeholders, who walked this journey together:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-39-cents and the euro at 19-rand-82-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-2-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-860-dollars-23-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-347-dollars-52-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-7-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Shows including BBC One’s Happy Valley, The Sixth Commandment and Netflix’s Top Boy were the big winners at this year’s BAFTA TV Awards in London. Sarah Lancashire won Best Actress for her performance in the final series of Happy Valley, while Best Actor went to Timothy Spall for The Sixth Commandment. The Best Drama Series went to Toy Boy. Strictly Come Dancing won Best Entertainment Programme, while Squid Game: The Challenge won Best Reality.

Stay tuned for more news………….