News 06:00

BULLETIN 20 May 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Constitutional Court will today rule on the IEC’s appeal over Zuma’s eligibility
# All high-risk voting areas are identified ahead of the elections
# And the death toll in George rises to 34

# The Constitutional Court is today set to rule on former president Jacob Zuma’s eligibility to stand for Parliament in the upcoming elections. Last month, the Electoral Commission filed an urgent application to challenge the Electoral Court’s decision, which cleared the path for the former president to run as a candidate for the MK Party. The IEC has argued that his 12-month jail sentence bars him from the elections. The Electoral Court found that because Zuma could not appeal the sentence it did not constitute a sentence under Constitution.

# The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure Coordination Centre will commence operations from 22 May to 9 June, ensuring safety for the elections. Natjoints co-chairperson, Tebello Mosikili, emphasises the centre is equipped with modern technology and serves as a central point for monitoring and coordinating responses to threats. She says their five-pillar approach includes intelligence gathering, law enforcement, detection, and information sharing to enhance security:

Meanwhile, Natjoints has also identified high-risk voting stations and volatile areas for continuous monitoring. Mosikili says proportional deployments are based on risk analysis and intelligence reports. She says Public Order Policing Units are ready to address threats, including community protests and a planned truck driver shutdown. She reiterated Natjoints’ role in crime prevention during the elections and warned against the planned truck drivers’ protest:

# The death toll in the George building collapse in the Western Cape has risen to 34 after another person died in hospital. This follows the wrapping up the search and rescue operations at the disaster site last Friday. Police have already started a criminal investigation into the collapse, while the Labour Department will take over the site once the police have concluded. The department’s chief inspector in the province, David Esau, has urged all families of those who were injured or died to register for compensation.

# An Israeli missile strike targeting a house at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least 35 people including nine children. Over 20 people were wounded. This comes as US president Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, has held talks in Israel with senior officials including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is part of a new push to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza. Over 35-thousand-456 people have been killed in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel last year, killing one-thousand-200 people and taking 252 others hostage.

# Rugby: The Springboks, Bulls, and Lions are some of the teams scrutinised in a comprehensive audit report on the state of transformation in South African rugby. According to Rapport, the report states that the Boks did not meet the 54-percent transformation targets in any of the three series they played last year. In the World Cup in France, the Springboks included only 38-percent black and coloured players. Meanwhile, in the United Rugby Championship, the Lions and Bulls only achieved 33 and 28-percent transformation targets respectively.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-14-cents and the euro at 19-rand-74-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-6-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-399-dollars-89-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-436-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-92-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….