News 06:00

BULLETIN 21 May 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The National Assembly speaker has denied ATM’s no-confidence motion against Ramaphosa
# The sugarcane season starts strong with a 48-percent surge in deliveries
# And cricket: There are still tickets available for the New Year’s Test against England at Newlands

# National Assembly Speaker, Thoko Didiza, has declined a request by the African Transformation Movement to table a motion of no confidence against president Cyril Ramaphosa. The motion was grounded in a Constitutional Court ruling that found Parliament acted unlawfully in blocking the establishment of an impeachment inquiry against the president. In response to the motion, Didiza cited parliamentary rules and procedural requirements. ATM says it believes Didiza is actively protecting Ramaphosa, and has not learned from the mistakes of her predecessor, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

# The South African Canegrowers says the 2026/2027 sugarcane milling season has started on a positive note, with deliveries up by 48-percent compared to last year. However, the industry warns that uncertainty around Tongaat Hulett and rising sugar imports continues to place significant pressure on local producers. The organisation’s chairperson, Higgins Mdluli, says cheap imported sugar is displacing local production and threatening rural jobs and livelihoods. Mdluli calls for urgent tariff reforms to protect the industry and secure its long-term sustainability.

# The Afrika Mayibuye Movement says popular cultural figure Gezani “Papa Penny” Kobane has joined its ranks ahead of the local government elections in November. This after he resigned from the MK Party and stepped down as the party’s member of Parliament. Party leader Floyd Shivambu told the media that Kobane will help strengthen its campaign in Giyani and surrounding communities in Limpopo:

# Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero says, despite the poor state of the metro, his administration has things under control. This comes after minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana raised concerns about poor financial controls in the metro. Delivering this year’s state of the city address yesterday, Morero admitted that Johannesburg’s infrastructure and utility pressures remained severe, stating that the metro’s combined infrastructure backlog now exceeded 220-billion-rand:

# The World Health Organisation warns that it could take up to nine months before a vaccine against the Bundibugyo virus, which is causing an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, is available. There have been 600 suspected cases of Ebola and 139 suspected deaths reported so far. WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says the health organisation’s emergency committee has agreed the situation is not a pandemic emergency:

# Cricket: More tickets will be made available for the New Year’s Test against England in Cape Town. Cricket South Africa says the announcement that Newlands was sold out was partly marketing-driven and all tickets are not gone. It also denied that most tickets were reserved for England’s fans. The Test will be the third and final one of the visitors’ first red-ball series in South Africa since 2019. The first Test starts in Johannesburg on 17 December, and the second in Centurion on the 26th.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-46-cents and the euro at 19-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-12-cents and Bitcoin trades at 77-thousand-399-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-541-dollars-19-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 101-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….