News 06:00

BULLETIN 21 May 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa notes the Constitutional Court’s decision on Zuma
# Hamas criticises the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for seeking arrest warrants
# And rugby: The president of SA Rugby says transformation is a process

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says he has noted the ruling by the Constitutional Court that former president Jacob Zuma is not eligible to run for the National Assembly. Following his 2021 contempt conviction and sentence, the court found Zuma may not be elected to the National Assembly until five years have passed since the completion of his sentence. Ramaphosa says the ruling of the ConCourt must be respected:

# The DA claims Mineral Resources and Energy minister Gwede Mantashe hasn’t signed a service level agreement with selected companies for a new mining cadastral system, despite promises made at the February mining indaba. According to the party, a Fraser Institute report indicates South Africa remains unattractive for mining investment. They argue that clearing a backlog of mining rights could unlock 30-billion-rand in investments. The DA’s James Lorimer urges voters to remember these delays during the elections: 

# The fraud and corruption case against controversial businessman Kishene Chetty and 25 of his co-accused has been postponed in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court sitting in Palm Ridge to the eleventh of June. The postponement is for nine of the accused to confirm the appointment of the Legal Aid South Africa attorneys to represent them. The National Prosecuting Authority Investigating Directorate’s spokesperson, Henry Mamothame, says bail has been extended to 24 of the accused, while a warning has been issued to one accused:

# The Department of Agriculture has quarantined farms near Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape, following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Three farms tested positive for the SAT3 virus, similar to the one causing outbreaks in Limpopo, North West, Free State, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga in 2021 and 2022. Spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo confirmed quarantine measures and epidemiological investigations to identify at-risk properties. Ngcobo has urged farmers to enforce biosecurity, including health clearance and isolation protocols for new animals. He confirmed that movement controls are not yet area-wide but could be implemented if necessary.

# Militant group Hamas says it strongly condemns the attempts of the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, to equate victims with aggressors by issuing arrest warrants. Khan has applied for arrest warrants to be issued for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Israeli Defence minister Yoav Gallant, and two other Hamas leaders. This is on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Hamas demands the ICC to issue arrest warrants against all war criminals who participated in crimes against the Palestinian people.

# Rugby: SA Rugby president Mark Alexander says they are tracking firmly in the right direction concerning transformation. A comprehensive 206-page audit compiled by Saru indicates that the Boks did not meet the 54-percent transformation targets in any of the three series they played last year. Alexander says although they have targets for the Boks in demographics, they also have performance targets that they will not compromise on. He adds that transformation is a process at all levels of the sport in the country.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-17-cents and the euro at 19-rand-74-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-10-cents and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-226-dollars-22-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-429-dollars-18-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-49-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….