News 06:00

BULLETIN 15 May 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Another two lawsuits will be filed against the NHI Act
# Several vehicles are recalled over safety defects
# And Israel intensifies its Gaza offensive

# The Board of Healthcare Funders says it will be filing two more legal challenges against the National Health Insurance Act. The cases will be on the public participation process leading up to the bill being passed by Parliament, and the constitutional right to health care. Last week, the Gauteng High Court ordered president Cyril Ramaphosa to provide it with his record of decision to sign the NHI Bill into law in May last year, despite objections. BHF says the new applications will be backed up by expert reports.  

# The National Consumer Commission has recalled several vehicle brands and models, sold between 2014 and 2016 in South Africa, mostly due to safety defects. These are the Jeep Wrangler and Chrysler 300c, Citroen’s C4, DS4, and DS5 models, Mercedes-Benz CLA and S-class model series, Audi e-tron GT vehicles, the VW Polo sedan and Volvo XC90. The commission’s Prudence Moilwa says the defects found in the vehicles related to airbags, axles, batteries, and seatbelts:

# The DA has served the City of Johannesburg with legal papers over illegal extensions of acting appointments in top positions. The DA’s Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku says seven officials, including acting city manager Tshepo Makola, have exceeded the legal three-month term. She urges the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo, to intervene and warns of further court action if no corrective steps are taken by tomorrow:

# AfriForum’s private prosecution unit has stepped in to assist the caretaker of Bergview College in Matatiele, in the Eastern Cape, facing threats and online accusations following a rape allegation of seven-year-old Cwecwe at the school last year. The unit says there’s no evidence linking him or the principal, Jaco Pieterse, to the alleged crime. AfriForum’s Barry Bateman says police took DNA samples from the caretaker, yet he was never formally treated as a suspect:

# Health authorities in Gaza say at least 70 Palestinians died in Israeli military strikes yesterday when bombardments were intensified while US president Donald Trump’ visits the Middle East. Reuters quotes medical staff as saying most of the victims, including women and children, died in a barrage of Israeli airstrikes on houses in the Jabalia area in the north. According to a statement from the Health Ministry, some victims were still on the road and under the rubble where rescue and civil emergency teams could not reach them.

# Cricket: Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman will replace Jake Fraser-McGurk in Delhi Capitals’ squad for the rest of the Indian Premier League after the  Australian batter decided not to return to India when the competition resumes on Saturday. Rahman also represented Delhi in the 2022 and ’23 seasons and took a total of 61 wickets in the IPL. Fraser-McCurck’s withdrawal follows that of English bowler Jamie Overton from Chennai Super Kings, while other players are expected to follow suit because the new schedule clashes with other commitments.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-23-cents and the euro at 20-rand-39-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-17-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-573-dollar-20-cents. Gold sells at three-thousand-184-dollars-13-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-99-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….