News 18:00

BULLETIN 9 April 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Julius Malema criticises the delay in the Phala Phala case judgement
# ActionSA pushes to fast-track whistleblower protection
# And tennis, Fonseca eliminates Berrettini in the round of 16 at the Monte-Carlo Masters

# EFF leader Julius Malema says delays in delivering judgement in president Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala case are raising serious concerns about accountability and fairness. This follows confirmation by the Constitutional Court that judgement on whether Parliament erred in its handling of the Limpopo farm robbery matter, is at an advanced stage and is expected within the coming month. Briefing the media, Malema said the delay risks undermining public confidence in the justice system:

# ActionSA has written to Justice minister Mmamoloko Kubayi requesting an urgent meeting to fast-track whistleblower protection legislation. The party’s Malebo Kobe says the Fallen Whistleblowers Bill aims to amend the Public Procurement Act, enhancing protections, introducing incentives, and allowing private prosecutions. She says the organisation seeks alignment to ensure the legislation passes before year-end, preventing future tragedies like the loss of whistleblower Babita Deokaran:

# Sesi Baloyi of the Madlanga Commission has questioned Tshwane Metro Police director of Assets, Tshukudu Malatji, about a multi-million rand security tender cancelled over missing documents and later reinstated by a court. It is alleged that the first Bid Evaluation Committee, including Malatji, removed bid documents from Supply Chain Management premises to an unknown venue, after which documents went missing. Malatji said he didn’t know finer details to the matter:

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile says the Gauteng Investment Conference aims to secure up to 200-billion-rand in new commitments to drive economic growth. Speaking at the conference in Johannesburg, Mashatile highlighted the importance of partnerships between government and the private sector to boost job creation, infrastructure and innovation. He said the province plays a key role in implementing national investment plans, building on commitments made at the South African Investment Conference:

# Tennis: Italian Matteo Berrettini lost in straight sets to Brazilian Joao Fonseca in the Monte-Carlo Masters’ round of 16 after demolishing seventh-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev in the previous round. Twenty-nine-year-old Berrettini didn’t have answers for the 19-year-old’s power game, losing 6-3, 6-2. Third-seeded German Alexander Zverev easily got rid of Belgian Zizou Bergs. The two top players in the world, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Italian Jannik Sinner, are in action in the round of 16 today.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-44-cents against the rand and the euro at 19-rand-21-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-7-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-643-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-765-dollars-1-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 96-dollars-43-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….