News 13:00

BULLETIN 30 April 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF calls for a full and transparent investigation into the deaths of three police constables
# President Ramaphosa appoints Alistair Ruiters as Special Advisor on Investment Promotion
# And rugby: Pieter-Steph du Toit is back after a shoulder operation

# The EFF is calling for a full and transparent investigation into the deaths of three police constables, Linda Cebekhulu, Boipelo Senoge, and Keamogetswe Buys and civilians. The party says national police commissioner, Fannie Masemola must provide answers, not only to the families, but to the public, about what happened, why, and who must be held accountable. The EFF says the presence of multiple bodies in one river system, within a short time frame and geographic radius, suggests a broader and possibly coordinated pattern of violence that demands urgent and thorough investigation.

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed former Department of Trade and Industry director-general, Dr Alistair Ruiters, as Special Advisor on Investment Promotion. He holds a Philosophy degree from Oxford University and a BA Honours from the University of Cape Town, among other qualifications. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says the government is implementing a broad range of economic reforms aimed at rendering South Africa more attractive and rewarding for domestic and international investors:

# Members of Parliament’s standing committee on Public Accounts have raised concerns over what action should be taken against the Road Accident Fund. This follows a presentation by the Special Investigating Unit, flagging irregular expenditure and misuse of public funds at the entity. The SIU’s findings have unsettled some MPs, with one describing the contents as unbelievable. Others, such as the MK Party’s David Skosana, believe RAF should appear before the committee before further action is decided:

# Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth today after six months on the country’s Tiangong space station, as Beijing advances towards its aim to become a major celestial power. China has ploughed billions of rands into its space programme in recent years in an effort to achieve what President Xi Jinping describes as the country’s space dream. The world’s second-largest economy has bold plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by the end of the decade and eventually build a base on the lunar surface.

# Rugby: The good news for Springbok fans is that World Cup hero Pieter-Steph du Toit is back in Japan after a shoulder operation, but it is still unclear when he will be playing again. He last played in November and his team, Verblitz, is struggling in the relegation zone with only two league matches to play. Du Toit needs to get match fit before the Boks take on the Barbarians on 28 June.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-62-cents and the euro at 21-rand-19-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 94-thousand-861-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-284-dollars-62-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-62-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….