News 17:00

BULLETIN 15 June 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The police’s crime detection chief Shadrack Sibiya is asked to take leave amid Mkhwanazi’s allegations
# Mpumalanga’s premier reconfigures his executive in a major shake-up
# And rugby: Siya Kolisi returns for the Boks, with an all-new front row against Georgia

# The deputy national commissioner for Crime Detection, Shadrack Sibiya, has been asked to take a leave of absence. This follows explosive claims by KwaZulu-Natal commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, that Sibiya colluded with information peddler Brown Mogotsi and Police minister Senzo Mchunu to disband the province’s political killings task team. National commissioner Fannie Masemola comfirmed that Sibiya has been served with the necessary documents. Sibiya has denied the allegations as baseless while his replacement is yet to be announced. The development follows Mchunu being placed on special leave earlier.

The MK Party meanwhile calls for Mchunu’s immediate dismissal, accusing him of misleading Parliament and violating the Constitution. The party says Mchunu’s continued presence in the cabinet while on special leave creates an unconstitutional situation where two individuals effectively head the police ministry. MK’s Colleen Makhubele also told the media the appointment of acting deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga to lead the inquiry into alleged police interference is unlawful and politically motivated:

# Mpumalanga premier Mandla Ndlovu has announced a major cabinet reshuffle. Jester Sidell is now MEC for Economic Development and Tourism, replacing Makhosazane Masilela, who becomes speaker. Brenda Moeketsi takes over Agriculture, with Nompumelelo Hlophe moving to Social Development. Lindi Masina replaces Cathy Dlamini as Education MEC. Culture, Sport and Recreation HOD Godfrey Ntombela has been axed. Deputy Judge President Takalani Ratshibvumo urged MECs to honour their oath to serve residents:

# Rugby: An all-new front row will anchor the Springboks’ scrum in Saturday’s one-off Test against Georgia in Mbombela, with Boan Venter, Marnus van der Merwe and Neethling Fouché all due to make their Test debuts. Fouché and Van der Merwe did play for South Africa in the recent match against the Barbarians in Cape Town. Captain Siya Kolisi returns after an injury lay-off, and will form the lose trio together with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Cobus Wiese. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Grant Williams are the half-back pairing.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-77-cents and the euro at 20-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-89-cents and Bitcoin trades at 117-thousand-682-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-342-dollars-87-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-41-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The world’s oldest marathon runner, Fauja Singh from India, died in a hit-and-run on Monday, at the age of 114. Singh was still competing after turning 100 more than a decade ago. He was born in rural India in 1911 and later moved to London. There he earned the nickname “Turbaned Tornado” after he took up marathon running in his late 80s and completed nine marathons. He was considered the world’s oldest marathon runner, though he never secured a Guinness World Record because he didn’t have a birth certificate.

Stay tuned for more news………….