News 14:00

BULLETIN 20 May 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Mmusi Maimane says South Africa is facing a crime and safety epidemic
# The Chinese president warns against resuming military operations in the Middle East
# And road running: The Mandela Marathon unveils its ambassadors

# Build One South Africa’s leader, Mmusi Maimane, says the country is facing a full-blown crime crisis. Over the past decade, more than 21-million criminal cases were opened with police, of which 61.7-percent were closed without being solved. Maimane says this means 13.2 million victims never saw justice. He has also highlighted the six-thousand police vacancies and two-thousand-300 detective shortages. Maimane says what is required is serious reform, which requires decentralising policing, ending cadre deployment and enforcing merit-based appointments.

# The Public Servants Association is concerned about reports of another expected fuel price increase in June. The Central Energy Fund predicts petrol price will increase by between 13- and 19-cents, while diesel prices will decrease by between four-rand-41- and three-rand-52-cents. PSA’s Claude Naicker says the anticipated increase in petrol prices will place even greater financial strain on citizens battling the escalating cost of living:

# The DA in Johannesburg has accused mayor Dada Morero of failing to act against alleged misconduct within his executive. Recently, there have been calls for the removal of mayoral committee member for Development Planning, Thapelo Amad, after criminal cases were opened against him. The DA’s Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjok says another mayoral committee member was allegedly arrested in connection with a kidnapping matter:

Moving abroad:

# Chinese president Xi Jinping has warned against the resumption of military operations in the Middle East, saying this would be unacceptable. US president Donald Trump has threatened to launch another military strike against Iran if a deal to end the war is not reached by the weekend. Xi put forward a four-point proposal for the Middle East last month, which promotes peaceful co-existence, national sovereignty, international rule of law, and a coordinated approach to development and security. He says a comprehensive ceasefire is imperative.

# Road running: The Nelson Mandela Foundation has unveiled ambassadors for the Mandela Marathon at a ceremony in Cape Town. They include Kenyan marathon legend Catherine Ndereba, former world record holder Paul Tergat, South African long-distance champion Prudence Seokgodiso and former New York City and Mumbai Marathon winner Hendrick Ramaala. The event in Cape Town on 18 October will feature five-, ten-, 21- and 42.2-kilometre races. Organisers say the marathon promotes Madiba’s values of unity and social justice.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-60-cents and the euro at 19-rand-25-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-23-cents and Bitcoin trades at 77-thousand-491-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-488-dollars-85-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 105-dollars-40-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….