News 16:00

BULLETIN 9 April 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Over four-thousand white Afrikaners have resettled under the US refugee programme
# Israel launches fresh attacks on Lebanon, putting the truce in jeopardy
# And rugby: Nortjé returns to the Blitzboks for the Hong Kong Sevens

# Over four-thousand white Afrikaners have entered the US under a controversial refugee programme launched by president Donald Trump. According to the US Department of State’s Bureau of Population document, between October 2025 and last month, over four-thousand-400 South Africans were resettled across 48 states. February and March this year saw the most arrivals, with more than one-thousand-300 people resettled each month. The Trump administration justifies the move by claiming the minority faces genocide, a claim the South African government firmly rejects as unfounded.

# Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi has warned the draft Whistleblowers Bill allows for a whistleblower’s protection to be revoked if used in bad faith or if the system is abused. She was speaking during the release of the bill for public comment until May 14. Kubayi says it bans retaliation, placing the burden on employers to prove protection of disclosures:

# The DA plans to use parliamentary processes to investigate the reasons for the astronomical backlog in reserved judgments. A report by the Office of the Chief Justice reveals are one-thousand-657 outstanding reserved judgments in higher courts. More than 302 have been outstanding for over six months. The DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach says the backlog presents a significant barrier to access to justice and erodes public confidence in the legal system:

Moving abroad: 

# Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon today, putting the Middle ​Eastern ceasefire in further jeopardy after its biggest attacks of the war on its neighbour killed over 250 people. Iranian negotiators were expected to ‌set off for Pakistan later today for the first peace talks of the war, where they are due to meet a delegation led by US vice president JD Vance on Saturday. Washington says Lebanon is not covered by the truce, but Iran and mediator Pakistan say it was explicitly part of the ceasefire deal.

# Rugby: Prolific try-scorer Quewin Nortjé returns to the Blitzboks for next weekend’s Hong Kong Sevens. South Africa already clinched the regular series title in New York last month, and this will now be followed by world championship events in the Chinese territory, Valladolid in Spain and Bordeaux in France before a grand champion is crowned. Nortjé was roped in following injuries to Christie Grobbelaar, Dewald Human and Gino Cupido. The Blitzboks face Argentina, Spain and Uruguay in Pool A in Hong Kong.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-43-cents and the euro at 19-rand-19-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-4-cents and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-74-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-740-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 95-dollars-41-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….