News 13:00
BULLETIN 22 March 1 pm
Good afternoon. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# The speaker of the National Assembly refutes rumours of her arrest
# COPE says there is a culture of corruption and a lack of accountability
# And cricket: The Indian Premier League kicks off in Chennai today
# National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has refuted reports of her arrest, accusing the media of engaging in trial-by-media tactics. She alleges the reports stemmed from unfounded rumours circulated by UDM leader, Bantu Holomisa. Mapisa-Nqakula’s legal team has also filed court papers challenging the search and seizure operation conducted at her home. They also want full disclosure of case details from the National Prosecuting Authority. She remains on special leave from her official duties as she prepares to defend herself against corruption allegations.
Meanwhile, Congress of the People says the country’s two presidents since 2009 have created a culture of endemic corruption, lack of accountability, and the failure of the state’s capacity to deliver reliable services. The party’s acting general secretary, Erick Mohlapamaswi, says today, 62-percent of people live in poverty, and there were 27-thousand murders last year, meaning citizens cannot feel safe and enjoy their human rights. He says the Constitution must be respected as it exists to promote social justice and equality:
# The Garden Route District Municipality says it is not surprised by the withdrawal of the 64-million-rand property fraud case against Garden Route and Knysna municipal managers Monde Stratu and Sitembele Vatala. It is alleged that between April and December 2019 they failed to declare seven municipal contingency assets to the Auditor-General, which were previously reflected on the 2012 and 2017 financial year audit reports. The Garden Route municipality’s spokesperson, Herman Pieters, says the accusations were baseless from the start:
# Cricket: This year’s Indian Premier League gets going this afternoon when defending champions Chennai Super Kings host Royal Challengers Bangalore. Former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis leads RCB, who also boasts star players such as former Indian captain Virat Kohli and Australians Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green. There are no South Africans in CSK’s squad. Protea fast bowler Gerald Coetzee is one of the best-earning players in this year’s IPL, being picked up by Mumbai Indians for a whopping 11.4-million-rand.
# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-96-cents and the euro at 20-rand-52-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-88-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-677-dollars-94-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-167-dollars-63-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-56-cents a barrel.
# And finally: Authors are being urged to help build up the National Library of South Africa’s reading collections as Library Week is drawing to a close. The National Library in Pretoria Central is home to the only de-acidifying laboratory in Africa. It also houses some of the country’s most important historical documents, and processes and records over 28-thousand new pieces of literature that require legal certification every year. NLSA’s spokesperson Jolene Bhadais says they need people to donate more historical works to the library’s collection for generations to come.
Stay tuned for more news………….