News 06:00

BULLETIN 4 May 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Presidency accuses AfriForum of spreading false claims about South Africa
# Parliament says Trump misunderstands South Africa’s policy on land matters
# And Mixed Martial Arts: Dricus Du Plessis hopes to bring a title fight to South Africa soon

# The Presidency has criticised AfriForum on its views on the Expropriation Act, saying it continuously misrepresents South Africa’s position and its laws. This is in response to the organisation’s comments on US president Donald Trump’s threat that America will cut all funding to South Africa over its expropriation policies. AfriForum has called on Trump to punish senior ANC leaders rather than the citizens. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told Newzroom Afrika that AfriForum continues to fight against the Constitution:

Meanwhile, Parliament’s portfolio committee on International Relations and Cooperation has welcomed the country’s swift response to US president Donald Trump’s misunderstanding of South African policy on land matters. Committee chairperson, Supra Mahumapelo, says Trump simply assumes that black South Africans whose land was taken by force, murder, or arrests, should be left unattended by the democratic government. He adds that the land issue has always been at the core of the country’s struggle.

# Business Leadership South Africa says the upcoming State of the Nation address and budget speech are important for boosting economic growth in the government of national unity’s reform agenda. They want president Cyril Ramaphosa to focus on three-percent economic growth by year-end, an energy action plan, and better freight logistics. Other priorities include fixing the criminal justice system, improving service delivery, and upgrading water infrastructure. In her weekly newsletter, CEO Busisiwe Mavuso believes strong leadership and clear policies are needed to promote economic growth and create jobs.

# The first phase of the 194-million-rand Lillian Ngoyi Street rehabilitation in Johannesburg will be completed by August, with full completion expected in 2026. The street, formerly Bree Street, collapsed after a methane gas explosion in 2023. Speaking to the SABC Transport mayoral committee member, Kenny Kunene, said a dispute between the city and the contractor has been resolved:

# Mixed Martial Arts: UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis, who will fight a rematch with American Sean Strickland in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday, says he hopes to bring the event to his home country of South Africa later this year. Du Plessis defeated Strickland in January last year to claim the world title and went on to defend it against New Zealander Israel Adesanya in August. He believes an event will come to South Africa, hoping it will be sooner rather than later.  

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-73-cents and the euro at 19-rand-33-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-29-cents and Bitcoin trades at 101-thousand-539-dollar-50-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-814-dollars-8-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 75-dollars-53-cents a barrel.

# And finally: More than 30 endangered froglets have been born at London Zoo after a dramatic eleven-thousand-kilometre rescue mission. The Darwin’s frog, named after Charles Darwin, faces extinction after the introduction of a deadly fungus to their habitat. However, bringing the endangered amphibians to the UK was no easy task, requiring a trip to Chile and a painstaking hunt for the tiny creatures, with the fully-grown fathers coming in at less than three centimetres. The 33 froglets were carried and brooded by 11 of the male frogs until they were ready to be born.

Stay tuned for more news………….