News 07:00

BULLETIN 26 May 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# BOSA says relaxing the red tape for Starlink sets a dangerous precedent
# Education activists say undocumented children of immigrants have a right to education
# And motorsport: Lando Norris wins the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time

# Build One South Africa has expressed concern at the sudden gazetting of relaxed B-BBEE licensing requirements for satellite service companies. The proposed policy direction provides alternatives to pave the way for Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate in the country. It provides applicants with a workaround to rules on who can acquire a licence to provide electronic communications services or to operate an electronic communications network. BOSA’s spokesperson, Roger Solomon, says this sets a dangerous precedent:

# Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has terminated the Silapha Wellness Intervention Programme. The programme was a three-year project offered to artists and sportspeople, intended to assist them in accessing resources. The service provider was awarded a tender of over 18-million-rand for three years, with the department paying around 507-thousand to the service provider monthly. The department says, that with serious questions raised about where and how the bulk of the money was being spent, the minister has decided the money could be better spent elsewhere.

# Education activist, Hendrick Makaneta says undocumented children of immigrants in South Africa have a right to education. However, he says the issue of nutrition affects them negatively due to budget allocations that are done under birth certificates. Makaneta says that the South African government should reflect on the broader issue of access to school nutrition to ensure that every registered child gets access:

# ActionSA in Gauteng is calling on premier Panyaza Lesufi and provincial Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Jacob Mamabolo to place the Emfuleni Local Municipality under mandatory administration with the full oversight of National Treasury. ActionSA’s Zwelithini Mtshali says despite years of oversight failures and incomplete interventions under Section 139, Emfuleni has deteriorated into a full-blown crisis with 7.1-billion-rand owed to Eskom and escalating debt to Rand Water has rendered the municipality financially insolvent:

# The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has condemned the deadly wave of Russian missile and drone strikes over the weekend. At least 12 people, including three children, were killed in widespread strikes in the Kyiv region. Ukrainian officials confirmed that Russia launched 298 drones and 69 missiles. The UN says the attack underscores the grave risks of using powerful explosive weapons in populated areas. It adds that this is yet another addition to the staggering human toll this war continues to inflict on civilians.

# Motorsport: McLaren’s Lando Norris held off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to win the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time. The Briton navigated the new two-mandatory tyre changes for the race to win for the first time since the season-opener in Australia. His teammate Oscar Piastri finished third, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in fourth, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton a distant fifth. Norris, who has cut Piastri’s lead at the top of the drivers’ championship to three points, says consistency is key for him:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-80-cents and the euro at 20-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-581-dollar-10-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-348-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-34-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….