News 07:00

BULLETIN 20 May 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister McKenzie says the Patriotic Alliance will not vote to impeach Ramaphosa
# Solidarity says the mining industry has shrunk under black economic empowerment
# And, president Donald Trump says he was an hour away from striking Iran

# Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, says his party, the Patriotic Alliance, will not vote to impeach president Cyril Ramaphosa. Parliament has established a 31-member impeachment committee to look into whether the president violated his oath of office. This is in relation to the burglary at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in 2020, where foreign currency was stolen. McKenzie has argued that Ramaphosa is not trying to avoid facing Parliament by taking the Section 89 panel report on review:

# Trade union Solidarity has criticised president Cyril Ramaphosa’s defence of black economic empowerment in the mining sector. The union’s new report indicates the mining sector has shrunk significantly since 1994, with reduced output and job losses. It argues current transformation policies are restricting growth and investment. Solidarity’s Theuns du Buisson claims the benefits of BEE have largely gone to a small group of elites, while ordinary workers have seen limited gains:

# ActionSA says it is concerned at Eskom’s renewed threat to disconnect power to parts of Johannesburg, over City Power’s escalating debt 5.2-billion-rand. The power utility stated that this was due to the failure to honour the terms of a settlement agreement relating to outstanding debt and the payment of its current electricity account. ActionSA says the metro must urgently present a credible and transparent repayment plan to Eskom, account to residents on how this debt has escalated, and implement consequence management against officials responsible for financial mismanagement.

# US president Donald Trump says he was an hour away from attacking Iran, before he postponed it at the request of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. This is in the hopes of meditators advancing negotiations toward a diplomatic solution. Trump told reporters at the construction site of his planned White House ballroom yesterday that he is giving Tehran until the weekend to make a deal to end the war. He reiterated that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon:

# Tennis: World number two Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from Wimbledon as he continues to recover from a wrist injury, which has also forced him out of the French Open, where he is the defending champion. The Spaniard has not played since withdrawing from the Barcelona Open last month. The 23-year-old ⁠seven-time Grand Slam champion says his recovery is going well, but he is still not ready to compete. Alcaraz became the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam this year when ‌he ‌won the Australian Open.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-73-cents and the euro at 19-rand-40-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-38-cents and Bitcoin trades at 76-thousand-480-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-467-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 107-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The National Arts Festival has unveiled its 2026 music programme, promising two weekends of Afro-pop, gospel, jazz, and pan-African performances in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape. The festival will run from 25 June to 5 July and will feature artists including Nomfundo Moh, Nontokozo Mkhize, Msaki, the Soweto String Quartet, as well as Standard Bank young artists Gabi Motuba and Ndumiso Manana. Gospel and choral music will feature strongly, with performances from The Bala Family, the Masicule Youth Choir, and Betusile Mcinga.

Stay tuned for more news………….