News 09:00

BULLETIN 26 May 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# COPE accuses minister Malatsi of betraying the transformation agenda
# The Police are on high alert following WhatsApp threats about disruptions in Gauteng
# And Zelensky is calling for more sanctions against Russia

# COPE has condemned minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Solly Malatsi’s decision to tamper with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment legislation. The minister has published a policy direction for public comment, which provides communication licence applicants with a workaround to a rule that requires license holders to be 30-percent owned by historically disadvantaged groups. This paves the way for Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate in the country. COPE’s, Teboho Loate, says this is a complete betrayal of the country’s transformation agenda:

# The DA says it’s time for government to rebuild trust, restore integrity, and bring real accountability to the Department of Defence. President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the Special Investigating Unit to probe into the serious allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the department. The DA’s Chris Hattingh says despite multiple oversight reports from Parliament, there’s been zero meaningful effort which is why this external intervention is now essential:

# National Police Commissioner, Fannie Masemola, says they are on high alert following WhatsApp messages warning of a shutdown in Gauteng today. The messages seek to mobilise communities to block highways, close schools, shut down the American embassy and Consulate, as well as close down targeted American businesses and food outlets in the province. National police spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe, says these messages are misleading and only seek to instil fear, bully community members and incite violence:

# Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has warned that Russia’s brutality cannot be stopped without strong international pressure. This comes after Moscow launched drones and missiles into Kyiv over the weekend, killing 12 people, including children. Russia’s Defence Ministry says it had inflicted damage on targets including military airfields, ammunition depots, and electronic warfare stations. Zelensky says each such terrorist attack by Moscow is a sufficient reason for new sanctions.

# Tennis: World number one Aryna Sabalenka got her French Open campaign to a winning start. The Belarusian defeated Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-1, 6-0, to move to the second round. Italy’s Jasmine Paolini battled past China’s Yuan Yue, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, while former world number two Czech Petra Kvitova was knocked out. In the men’s draw, American Ben Shelton needed five sets to overcome Italian Lorenzo Sonego, winning 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. There were also wins for American Frances Tiafoe and Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-81-cents and the euro at 20-rand-32-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-700-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-348-dollars-6-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-40-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….