News 10:00

BULLETIN 29 May 10 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# There were protests delaying the opening of voting stations
# The FF Plus says the Public Protector will probe Paul Mashatile’s sons over suspicious tenders
# And tennis: Sabalenka and Rybakina are through to the second round of the French Open

# Voting got underway relatively smoothly across the country at seven this morning, but there were some problems. In Keiskammahoek in the Eastern Cape, the voting station did not open on time due to protest action over land disputes and people refused to vote. Park Town Girls High School in Gauteng voting station also opened late. This is said to be the most hotly contested election, also historic as it marks the 30th year of electoral democracy.

Meanwhile, the Amathole mayor Onke Mgunculu says the roads that were closed by protestors in Keiskammahoek, Eastern Cape, are now open and residents can go and cast their votes. Mgunculu says law enforcement agencies have been deployed to monitor the protest:

# The Freedom Front in Gauteng says the Public Protector has agreed to investigate deputy president Paul Mashatile’s two sons after it lodged a complaint against the duo. This comes after a complaint alleging that Thabiso Mashatile and Tinyiko Mvelase were awarded three contracts in just three months. The FF Plus’, Anton Alberts, says the contracts were awarded under suspicious circumstances by the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development:

# Papua New Guinea’s prime minister James Marape has blamed extraordinary rainfall and changes to weather patterns for multiple disasters in the Pacific Island nation this year. This comes after a landslide in Enga province last week Friday buried more than two-thousand people. Up to 70-thousand people living in the area were affected by the disaster. Marape says natural disasters have cost the country more than two-billion-rand this year, before the landslide at Enga.

# Tennis: Grand Slam champions Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina are through to the second round of the French Open. Belarus’ Sabalenka defeated Russian teenager Erika Andreeva, 6-1, 6-2, while Russian-born Kazakhstani Rybakina overcame a slow start to beat Belgium’s Greet Minnen, 6-2, 6-3. The former Wimbledon champion was playing her first match in over three weeks. Alize Cornet’s playing career came to an end as the Frenchwoman lost, 6-2, 6-1, to Chinese seventh seed Zheng Qinwen at her final tournament.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-24-cents and the euro at 19-rand-81-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-29-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-442-dollars-92-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-354dollars-17-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-27-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….