News 13:00

BULLETIN 22 April 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A court denies police sergeant Fannie Nkosi’s bail application
# A pastor abandons bail bid in child rape case
# And rugby: The Sharks request a formal review of the Ospreys winger’s conduct which injured Ethan Hooker

# Suspended police sergeant Fannie Nkosi has been denied bail at the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court. He faces charges of theft, defeating the ends of justice and illegal possession of ammunition and a stun grenade. Magistrate Thandi Theledi ruled Nkosi’s release would undermine trust in the justice system, and he may interfere with witnesses. She found the state’s case is strong, and postponed the matter to May 21:

# The 58-year-old pastor and former investment banker accused of raping a 12-year-old girl has abandoned his bail application at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court in Gauteng. Tshepo Ntsimane appeared in court this morning but did not proceed with his bid for release. The matter has been postponed to 20 May for further investigation. The case stems from allegations linked to the Easter Weekend, with authorities continuing their investigation into the matter. Ntsimane remains in custody as proceedings continue.

# Transport minister Barbara Creecy says it is unacceptable that South African Airways has received two consecutive audit disclaimers from the Auditor-General’s office. In the 2024/25 financial year, the national carrier achieved 83-percent of its annual targets and made a 30-million-rand profit, but recorded an operating loss of 472-million-rand. Creecy told Parliament’s portfolio committee on Transport operational changes are needed to make SAA financially sustainable:

# The EFF says minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen has failed to provide Parliament a coherent, transparent and credible account of the scale of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. Reported outbreaks have increased sharply from 932 cases in March to one-thousand-502 cases by last week. The Western Cape has not reported any new cases for a month. The EFF’s Laetitia Arries says the level of vaccine wastage is alarming:

# Rugby: The Sharks have asked the United Rugby Championship to formally review an incident during the match against Ospreys that ended Springbok back player Ethan Hooker’s game just before half-time. Ospreys winger Luke Morgan wasn’t penalised for diving on Hooker after he scored the visitors’ second try, which dislocated his shoulder. He has returned to South Africa for scans to determine the severity of the injury, which is expected to keep him out of action for a prolonged period.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-45-cents and the euro at 19-rand-34-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-25-cents and Bitcoin trades at 78-thousand-40-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-760-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 94-dollars-73-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….