News 08:00
BULLETIN 18 April 8 am
Good morning. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# A presidential envoy believes Meyer will set the record straight
# A suspect in the Rabie Ridge mass shooting allegedly turns the gun on himself
# And tennis: Injury forces Djokovic out of the Madrid Open
# Presidential envoy Alistair Ruiters believes South Africa’s newly-appointed ambassador to the US, Roelf Meyer, will challenge right-wing groups’ claims that they are representing Afrikaners. The former minister has wide-ranging diplomatic and political experience. Ruiters says Meyer’s appointment will help enormously to set the record straight. He says there had been a void in Washington where the right wing had been engaging with the US State Department. Ruiters says Meyer already knows Washington, and his respected reputation will help rebuild the strained ties between the countries.
# Gauteng police say a suspect in a shooting incident in Rabie Ridge, Tembisa, that left three people dead has been found dead after he allegedly turned the gun on himself. Spokesperson Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi says he argued with his girlfriend, whom he shot before shooting two more people in the house. She says police responded to the scene and also came under fire, while two other women were wounded:
# Agriculture minister, John Steenhuisen, has appointed 27 external technical advisors to support the department. This is to ensure more effective and speedy turnover time of the high-volume applications received by the Registrar of the Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies, and Stock Remedies Act. Steenhuisen says the department is responsible for overseeing that agricultural inputs like fertilisers, animal feeds, pesticides, stock remedies, and agricultural remedies are effective and pose minimal risk to human health and the environment before they can be imported, sold, or used in South Africa
# The DA says disciplinary action isn’t progressing against senior Health Department officials arrested in connection with alleged corruption linked to the 428-million-rand Bulkeng oxygen plant tender. The party claims director-general Sandile Buthelezi, deputy director-general Percy Mahlati and chief financial official Phaswa Mamogale remain on suspension but are still earning millions in salaries. The DA’s Michéle Clarke says there is no clear timeline for their disciplinary hearings:
Moving abroad:
# Iranian Foreign minister Abbas Araqchi says the Strait of Hormuz was open following a ceasefire accord agreed in Lebanon, while US president Donald Trump said he believed a deal to end the war with Iran would come soon. Araqchi said in a post on X the strait was open for all commercial vessels for the remainder of the 10-day truce between Israeli forces and Iranian-backed Hezbollah agreed between Israel and Lebanon. He said the passage of ships would need to be along the route that Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organisation had announced.
# And tennis: Injury has forced three-time champion Novak Djokovic out of next week’s Madrid Open in the Spanish capital. The 38-year-old Serb has not participated in the ATP Tour since being eliminated at Indian Wells last month. He pulled out of the Miami Open due to a shoulder injury and also skipped last week’s Monte-Carlo Masters. The world number four says he’s continuing his recovery and hopes to be back soon. The claycourt tournament is used as preparation for the French Open, starting on 24 May.
Stay tuned for more news………….