News 09:00

BULLETIN 29 April 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The EFF condemns the Sunday Times editor’s alleged  involvement in a corruption scandal
# The GOOD Party welcomes the extension of the fuel levy relief
# And, president Donald Trump describes the US-UK relationship as a treasured friendship

# The EFF says it has consistently maintained that sections of the South African media are deeply compromised, because they are materially linked to political patronage networks and corrupt state-connected funding streams. A Special Investigating Unit probe has implicated Sunday Times editor, Makhudu Sefara, in an alleged irregularity linked to the National Lotteries Commission. The EFF says this exposes the broader rot that exists within institutions that posture as defenders of accountability, while benefiting from corruption themselves.

# The GOOD Party has welcomed government’s decision to extend the fuel levy relief until June 2nd, cushioning consumers from steep fuel price increases. Earlier this month, the National Treasury announced a temporary three-rand reduction in fuel levies. GOOD’s secretary general, Brett Herron, says the impact of the US attack on Iran on oil prices, and thus fuel prices, demanded government’s domestic intervention to protect South Africans from a radical fuel price shock:

# ActionSA has intensified its call for urgent intervention by the Police Ministry in the disappearance of Mazwi Mpumelelo Kubheka. The 27-year-old Vosloorus spaza shop owner was reported missing on the second of this month, after leaving home to deposit money at a bank. He was last seen in Marimba Gardens. His family alleges he may have been kidnapped. ActionSA leader, Herman Mashaba, says local law enforcement has failed to provide adequate updates or demonstrate meaningful progress in the investigation:

# US president Donald Trump says the history and bond between America and the UK is a friendship unlike any other on Earth. He hosted King Charles the Third and Queen Camilla for a state dinner at the White House on Tuesday evening. Trump said the relationship between the two countries is a true story of extraordinary heroism and skill. He added that history has known no more powerful force than the combination of American patriotism and British pride:

# Soccer: Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 5-4 in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal in Paris. PSG were 5-2 up in the 58th minute, but Bayern hit back with two goals in three minutes to make it 5-4 in the 68th minute, giving them a chance in the return leg in Germany next Wednesday. This is the joint-highest scoring semifinal match in European Cup history after Rangers’ 6-3 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960. The winners will face Arsenal or Atletico Madrid in the final in Budapest.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-54-cents and the euro at 19-rand-37-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-36-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 77-thousand-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-600-dollars-6-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 103-dollars-57-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….