News 06:00

BULLETIN 17 May 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa urges the International Court of Justice to order Israel’s withdrawal from Rafah in Gaza
# The DA deploys 100 party agents worldwide ahead of the overseas voting
# And rugby: The Sharks centre, Murray Koster is suspended for five games

# South Africa has requested the International Court of Justice at the Hague, to order Israel to immediately withdraw and cease its military offensive in Gaza’s Rafah as part of additional emergency provisional measures. Israel lawyers are expected to respond this morning. In her arguments, South Africa’s legal counsel Adila Hassim argues that Israel’s actions in Rafah endanger the existence of Palestinians and constitute a violation of international law:

Meanwhile, South Africa asserts that Israel’s intent to eradicate Palestinians in Gaza is unmistakable and must be stopped. South Africa’s legal representative Tembeka Ngcukaitobi says Israel’s ongoing incitement to genocide necessitates immediate action. Ngcukaitobi accused Israeli leaders of inciting genocide, breaching the Genocide Convention, and showing contempt for the ICJ:

# The DA has stationed over 100 party agents globally to ensure free and fair voting with just hours before overseas voting commences. Over 78-thousand registered South Africans abroad can cast their votes over the next three days. London, with over 24-thousand registered voters, is the largest voting station. Trained agents will cover key stations in countries like Australia, the United States, and the Netherlands. Trained party agents have also been allocated to Egypt, Syria, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, and Algeria for voting today.

# COPE has commended president Cyril Ramaphosa for visiting the George building collapse site but is challenging him to muster the same courage to fulfil his promise to visit the Marikana massacre victims. Nineteen construction workers are still unaccounted for following the building disaster in George, which has claimed the lives of 33 people. COPE’s, Pakes Dikgetsi, says in the same way that Ramaphosa showed compassion to the people of George, his heart should also go out to the people of Marikana:

# The Gauteng Legislature’s portfolio committee on Community Safety acknowledges the urgent need to address escalating crime rates in Rietgat, Soshanguve, Fochville, and Ratanda. In the latest incident, five-year-old Ditebogo Junior Phalane was shot and killed when his father was being hijacked outside their home in Soshanguve last week Friday. The committee says it supports the communities’ call for the rotation of station commanders and their respective police officers. It adds that this will infuse new leadership and fresh approaches to policing.

# Rugby: Sharks centre Murray Koster has been handed a five-game suspension for his red card against Benetton in the United Rugby Championship in Durban. He was red-carded after a dangerous entry into a ruck. Koster’s good record, timely admission of guilt, and apology resulted in a five-game suspension, instead of the warranted ten. He will miss the clash with Cardiff in Durban tomorrow, the Challenge Cup final against Gloucester, and the last match of the URC season against the Bulls.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-18-cents and the euro at 19-rand-75-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-3-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-365-dollars-91-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-377-dollars-64-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-30-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….