News 06:00

BULLETIN 7 May 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Two people are dead following the collapse of a building in George
# Israel’s army conducts strikes in eastern Rafah
# And rugby: The Junior Boks are looking for an improved effort against Australia

# Two people have been confirmed dead following the collapse of a five-storey building under construction along Victoria Street in George, Western Cape. Seventy-five members of a construction crew were on-site at the time of the incident yesterday afternoon. George Municipality says 22 people have been retrieved and sent to hospitals, of which two have died. The municipality says multiple disaster service personnel, including police search and rescue teams with sniffer dogs, are currently involved in a rescue operation to retrieve the remaining 53 trapped construction workers.

# The Electoral Commission has rejected MK party leader Jacob Zuma’s demand for the Constitutional Court judges who sentenced him to recuse themselves from deciding his eligibility for Parliament. News24 report the IEC dismissed Zuma’s plea, stating there’s no valid reason for the judges to step down. Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt. The commission argues the appeal doesn’t require reinterpreting previous rulings but centres on Zuma’s qualification as a candidate for the National Assembly under the Constitution.

# Police minister Bheki Cele says the role of active citizen participation in the prevention and combating of crime continues to gain momentum. The police’s top brass briefed the media on the success achieved by Operation Shanela over the past year. Operation Shanela launched in May last year to deal with crime in high-density areas, has resulted in the arrest of 600-thousand criminals. Cele says the police will remain intentional in their approach to fight crime:

# Eskom is taking City Power to the High Court in Johannesburg over a debt of more than one-billion-rand. City Power’s unpaid invoices since October last year have left Eskom with no choice but to seek a declaratory order. City Power, in turn, disputes potential overbilling dating back to 2021. The matter has been set for 4 June. Eskom spokesperson Amanda Qithi, says this escalating debt threatens the power utility’s ability to maintain infrastructure and meet energy demands:

# Israel’s army says it has conducted targeted strikes in eastern Rafah, after urging some 100-thousand civilians to leave. According to reports, sounds of gunfire could be heard at the Rafah border crossing from the Egyptian side. This comes as Hamas accepted a ceasefire deal, which was then rejected by Israel as far from meeting its demands. The US says it is focused on preventing major military operations targeting densely populated areas of Rafah.

# Rugby: JF van Heerden will captain a Junior Springbok side showing several changes when they take on Australia in the second round of the Under-20 Rugby Championship in Bokarina, Queensland today. Van Heerden takes over the captaincy from Zachary Porthen, who has been ruled out of contention due to a hand injury he sustained in the 13-all draw against New Zealand last week. The starting line-up has nine changes and a positional switch. The match kicks off at 11am SA time and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-48-cents and the euro at 19-rand-90-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-21-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-583-dollars-27-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-325-dollars-9-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-53-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….