News 14:00

BULLETIN 26 May 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Public pressure increases on Kelly Smith to reveal Joslin’s whereabouts as sentencing begins tomorrow
# The DA demands clarity on Lottery operations as a court finds minister Tau’s licence process unlawful
# And cricket: Sikandar Raza is hailed a hero after his trans-continental flights to help Qalanders clinch the PSL title

# Non-governmental organisations and the public are calling on Kelly Smith to reveal the whereabouts of her missing daughter, Joslin, ahead of sentencing procedures in the Western Cape High Court, sitting in Saldanha Bay, tomorrow. The three-day process includes arguments and aggravations as convicted trio Smith, Jacquen Appollis, and Steveno van Rhyn await their fate. They were found guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking. Joslin vanished on 19 February last year, and her whereabouts remain unknown. Community members demand the harshest sentence.

# The DA says a judgment by the North Gauteng High Court has confirmed that the process Trade, Industry and Competition minister Parks Tau undertook to appoint a temporary lottery licence operator for the National Lottery, was unlawful. The DA’s Toby Chance says they warned of this in March, when Tau undertook the process. He says in the interests of not disrupting lottery operations, the judgement also provided Tau five months to rectify his error:

# The Gauteng Health Department says it is committed to improving cancer treatment services in the province to meet the growing demand for radiotherapy services. The department’s spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba says this includes investing in the expansion of infrastructure and investing in advanced equipment to enhance cancer treatment and ensure timely access to care:

# Cricket: Zimbabwean allrounder Sikandar Raza is hailed a hero in his country of birth, Pakistan, for rushing to help Lahore Qalanders win the Pakistan Super League. He landed just in time, but contributed an undefeated 22. Qalanders beat Quetta Gladiators by six wickets with one ball to spare. Raza’s teammates then carried him off the field shoulder-high. He left England on Saturday after playing for Zimbabwe in the one-off Test, saying he had dinner in Birmingham, breakfast in Dubai, lunch in Abu Dhabi and dinner in Pakistan.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-85-cents and the euro at 20-rand-33-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-22-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-855-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-332-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-13-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Belgium’s ancient city of Bruges is asking tourists to stop stealing cobblestones from its historic streets. The streets of Bruges are UNESCO-recognized medieval streets. Local politician Franky Demon says an estimated 50 to 70 cobblestones disappear every month and it costs the equivalent of around four-thousand-rand per square meter to replace them and fix the damage.  He told CNN missing or loosened stones create tripping hazards, and city workers must frequently be dispatched to carry out repairs.

Stay tuned for more news………….