News 18:00

BULLETIN 16 April 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ace Magashule pleads not guilty in the 255-million-rand asbestos case
# President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Eastern Cape lost 197-million-rand to audit irregularities
# And soccer: The wrong athem is played before the Champions League quarterfinal clash between Villa and PSG

# Former Free State premier, Ace Magashule has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering in the 255-million-rand asbestos roof removal case. The 2014 tender aimed to remove asbestos from 300-thousand homes, but only 21-million-rand’s worth of work was reportedly completed. Appearing in the High Court in Bloemfontein alongside 17 co-accused, Magashule maintains the charges are politically motivated:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed concern over the Eastern Cape’s financial management, following an Auditor-General report that revealed 197-million-rand in irregular expenditure. Addressing provincial leaders in Nelson Mandela Bay, Ramaphosa said 30 material irregularities were recorded, with 13 still unresolved. While acknowledging progress in clean audits and improved financial reporting, he stressed that mismanagement of public resources continues to undermine development:

# AfriForum says Tenbosch Mining’s coal plan near the southern part of the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga is deeply flawed and threatens the environment. The organisation has written to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, and SANParks, as the public was not properly consulted and key steps were skipped. AfriForum’s Lambert de Klerk wants a full investigation and warns legal action will be taken if the mining plan goes ahead:

# The European Union has published a list of seven countries it considers safe, in a bid to speed up migrant returns by making it harder for citizens of those nations to claim asylum in the bloc. The European Commission said it was proposing to designate Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia as safe countries of origin. The move is set to allow EU governments to process asylum applications filed from citizens of those countries more quickly, by introducing a presumption that such applications lack merit.

# Soccer: The playing of the wrong anthem during yesterday’s Champions League quarterfinal clash between Aston Villa and Paris St-Germain was ascribed to a sound system malfunction. Some players struggled to contain their laughter when the Europa anthem was played at Villa Park in Birmingham before the start of the game. It was then switched to the Champions League anthem. Villa won the second-leg encounter 3-2, but PSG advanced to the semifinal with a 5-4 aggregate after winning the first match 3-1.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-84-cents and the euro at 21-rand-41-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-96-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-924-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-311-dollars-64-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-14-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….