News 09:00

BULLETIN 28 April 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Schreiber says digital border management is yielding meaningful progress
# Popcru wants every available resource used to find three missing constables
# And Canada’s Liberal Party is projected to win the election

# Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber says the Border Management Authority’s Easter operations success was driven by the digital transformation process that is now in full swing. This year six-thousand-253 attempted illegal migration crossings into South Africa were intercepted by the BMA, compared to just three-thousand-841 in 2024. This is a 63-percent increase. Schreiber says there is now sustained improvement in the efficiency of border management:

Meanwhile, Border Management Authority commissioner Michael Masiapato says the introduction of surveillance drones and body cameras has been a game changer for border management work at the ports of entry. He says about 112 individuals were arrested at the ports of entry during the Easter period for various reasons and were handed over to members of the SAPS for further processing. Masiapato says the majority of these individuals served as facilitators of illegal activities around the ports of entry:

# The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union has expressed concern at the disappearance of three constables, who were deployed to participate in operation Vala umgodi. The missing officers were travelling from Bloemfontein to Limpopo, and they were last spotted at an Engen garage near the Grasmere toll plaza on the N1 highway last Thursday. Popcru’s spokesperson, Richard Mamabolo, says police must use every available resource to find the missing officers:

# Canada’s Liberal Party, led by prime minister Mark Carney, is projected to win the country’s federal election. However, the results in several key electoral districts are too close to determine if the party will have a majority government or be held to a minority for the third consecutive election. Carney, a former banker, became prime minister in March after his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, resigned from office. A record 7.3-million people had already cast their ballots before election day, a 25-percent increase from the 2021 federal election.

# Road running: The 45th edition of the London Marathon held on Sunday set a world record for the number of runners who crossed the finish line, 56-thousand-640. This eclipses the previous mark of 55-thousand-646 in the New York Marathon last year. The event also attracted record crowd numbers, with about 800-thousand people cheering the runners on, approximately 60-thousand more than usual. Kenyan Sebastian Sawe won the men’s race while Ethiopian Tigist Assefa won the women’s race, setting a new world record of two hours-15 minutes-and-50-seconds.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-54-cents and the euro at 21-rand-11-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-813-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-314-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-27-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….