News 17:00

BULLETIN 14 March 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# An Eastern Cape woman’s boyfriend is given a 25-year sentence for his role in her murder
# The DA accuses the ANC and the EFF of ignoring residents’ opposition to Sandton Drive’s renaming
# And a US influencer leaves Australia after outrage over a baby wombat

# One of three men implicated in the murder of Eastern Cape woman Vicki Terblanche was sentenced to 25-year in prison by the High Court in Gqeberha. Thirty-six-year-old Reinhardt Leach assisted in the murder of his girlfriend in October 2021. Sy was given a drug overdose, suffocated and buried in a shallow grave. The state argued Leach conspired with Terblanche’s estranged husband, Arnold Terblanche, and a third man, Dylan Cullis, who took a plea deal earlier and was sentenced to 18-years. Arnold Terblanche’s trial starts in October.

# AfriForum has urged Parliament to consider private laboratories and universities to process DNA evidence as police’s Forensic Science Laboratory backlog surpasses 140-thousand cases. AfriForum’s Jacques Broodryk claims the delays leave victims without justice and criminals free. Service contracts remain unrenewed, and crucial forensic equipment sits unused. He says government has failed and must allow private sector intervention to restore efficiency:

# The DA has criticised the ANC, ActionSA, the EFF, and the Patriotic Alliance for pushing forward with the renaming of Sandton Drive in Johannesburg to Palestinian politician Leila Khaled, despite widespread opposition. According to the party, despite thousands of residents voicing their objections, a motion to rescind the renaming was rejected in council yesterday. The DA’s Lynda Shackleford argues the City of Johannesburg should focus on service delivery instead of symbolic changes:

# Motorsport: Lewis Hamilton says his first competitive day in a Ferrari had been completely different, but he is relishing trying to squeeze out more pace at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion officially began work at the Scuderia in January after his shock move from Mercedes after 12 years. While he completed 162 laps of testing in Bahrain, the Briton was in the Ferrari cockpit for the first time at a Grand Prix, finishing fifth in second practice after coming 12th in the opening session.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-15-cents and the euro at 19-rand-77-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-48-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-354-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-994-dollars-17-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 69-dollars-79-cents a barrel.

# And finally: American influencer Sam Jones has reportedly left Australia, a day after the news broke local authorities are reviewing her visa status following a video showing her picking up a baby wombat from its mother. It shows the mother frantically following them when she crossed a road, and Jones later saying she’d rather return the little one. Wombats are legally protected in Australia. Home Affairs minister Tony Burke confirmed an investigation to determine if Jones had breached the conditions of her stay, saying she will probably not be back.

Stay tuned for more news………….