News 14:00

BULLETIN 4 June 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Magashule backs his former PA’s innocence amid an NPA decision to appeal in the asbestos roof case
# Taxpayers foot a 2.3-million-rand bill for Mashatile’s Japan trip
# And three students at Walter Sisulu University arrested for public violence

# Former Free State premier Ace Magashule says his ex-personal assistant, Moroadi Cholota, will remain innocent even if the NPA appeals the Bloemfontein High Court ruling next Friday. The court found Cholota was unlawfully extradited from the US with the basis for her extradition lacking jurisdiction to charge her in the 255-million-rand asbestos fraud trial. After the case was postponed to 26 January 2026, Magashule again called the charges politically motivated:

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile’s March visit to Japan cost taxpayers over 2.3-million-rand, with nearly 900-thousand spent on accommodation for him and his wife. Responding to parliamentary questions from ActionSA, Mashatile confirmed that the trip was undertaken to strengthen bilateral ties and promote investment opportunities. News24 reports, the total bill included more than 1.2-million-rand for hotels, 410-thousand-rand for transport, 51-thousand-rand for food, and eight-thousand-rand for laundry. ActionSA says the GNU executive’s travel has cost the government over 184-million-rand since July last year.

# Three students have been arrested in connection with alleged public violence, damage to infrastructure and damage to property at the Walter Sisulu University Mthatha campus, in the Eastern Cape. Police spokesperson, Nobuntu Gantana says there are ongoing student protests at the university concerning the release on bail of a murder suspect linked to the death of a student, Sisonke Mbolekwa. She says Mbolekwa was fatally shot during a student protest in April:

# Chinese airlines might order up to 300 narrow-body and wide-body Airbus passenger aircraft as soon as next month when European leaders visit Beijing. Bloomberg News quotes industry sources saying China has frequently timed large jet orders to coincide with state visits, but caution negotiations are not guaranteed to result in a deal amid volatility over trade. China has a deficit of aircraft after holding back on major orders for more than five years. A major order could be a setback for Airbus’s archrival, Boeing, who is just making a major recovery.

# Tennis: Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic both chase semi-final berths at the French Open today, but the spotlight will be on home hope Lois Boisson in the women’s tournament. Wildcard 22-year old Boisson, ranked 361st in the world, steps up against Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva after beating third seed Jessica Pegula to reach the quarter-finals. Djokovic will compete in a record 19th French Open quarter-final against last year’s runner-up Alexander Zverev. Sinner faces unseeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-83-cents and the euro at 20-rand-28-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-11-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-761-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-354-dollars-20-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-46-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….