News 14:00

BULLETIN 18 June 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Electoral Commission clarifies the elections dashboard update following the seat allocation 
# A Firearm Control expert testifies that Julius Malema is fit to possess a firearm 
# And Soccer: Johannesburg will host the draw for the Afcon 2025 qualifiers next month

# The Electoral Commission clarified confusion over recent election results. The commission confirmed that voters received two ballot papers for the National Assembly, one national and one regional, as well as a provincial ballot. This comes as the MK Party calls for the election annulment. Amid scrutiny, the commission’s deputy communications manager David Mandaha assured the public that results were accurately reported, despite social media concerns:

# Firearm Control expert Martin Hood has testified that EFF leader Julius Malema is eligible to possess a firearm, as he has not been deemed unfit. Hood told the East London Regional Court that the bill did not prevent Adriaan Snyman from giving Malema a firearm during the EFF’s 5th-anniversary celebrations in 2018. Hood emphasised it is only a criminal offense if the firearm was given for a criminal act:

# The Minister of Transport, Sindiswe Chikunga will officially be handing over the Freedom and Democracy Bus to the Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni in Centurion today . The Freedom and Democracy Bus is set to travel across all nine provinces of South Africa, engaging South Africans through various activations to showcase the government’s programmes and achievements over the past three decades. Chikunga and Ntshavheni will also be focusing on the 30 years of freedom and democracy in South Africa during their interaction with the media.

# Soccer: Johannesburg will host the draw for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers early next month. Continental governing body CAF says it will be conducted at SuperSport’s studios in Randburg on the fourth of July. The qualifiers start in September to determine the 24 countries taking place in the tournament in Morocco in July and August next year. Bafana Bafana won the bronze medal in the previous tournament in their best performance in 24 years. It was won by hosts Ivory Coast.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-11-cents and the euro at 19-rand-42-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-98-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-390-dollars-52-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-311-dollars-21-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-6-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A global study by Oxford University’s Reuters Institute suggests that more people are turning away from news, describing it as depressing, relentless, and boring. Nearly four in ten people worldwide now actively avoid the news, up from 29-percent in 2017. The report indicates that wars in Ukraine and the Middle East may contribute to this trend. In addition, women and younger people feel particularly overwhelmed. Trust in the news remains steady at 40-percent, though it is four-percentage points lower than during the coronavirus pandemic.

Stay tuned for more news………….