News 06:00

BULLETIN 9 April 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The High Court will today decide on Jacob Zuma’s candidature
# Minister Kiviet emphasises the employment of ethical and competent public servants
# And the premier of the Western Cape is concerned of the damage to the electricity infrastructure

# The High Court in Johannesburg will today electronically deliver a ruling on former president Jacob Zuma’s eligibility to contest the elections as the uMkhonto we Sizwe party candidate. The party seeks to overturn the Electoral Commission’s decision disqualifying Zuma due to a criminal record. Zuma argues he was prematurely ousted from the presidency and has unfinished business. Judge Lebogang Modiba says the court may defer reasons to comply with the IEC’s legally binding timetable.

# Public Service and Administration minister Noxolo Kiviet says the government is enhancing pre-employment processes to ensure the employment of ethical and competent public servants. She addressed over 300 public servants in KwaZulu-Natal on various issues, from the unfolding Public Sector reforms to the professionalisation of the Public Service. Kiviet says the National Framework Towards the Professionalisation of Public Service is imperative, as it offers an opportunity for total public sector reforms.

# The DA says it’s committed to ensuring every court in the country functions optimally, and to restoring public trust in the justice system. This commitment follows an oversight visit to magistrates’ and high courts in Pretoria last week, where they discovered alarming inadequacies. Empty courtrooms, staff shortages, and operational irregularities were observed, exacerbating delays in pending cases. The DA’s Glynnis Breytenbach calls for improvements, including budgetary autonomy and merit-based appointments, to address these issues and uphold the integrity of the justice system:

# Western Cape premier Alan Winde says he is concerned about the impact of the strong winds on electricity infrastructure. Torrential weather that’s been battering parts of the province has claimed at least one life in Paarl. Twenty-six schools have been damaged. The inclement weather has caused power outages in several West Coast towns and the Lourensford and Gordon’s Bay areas. Winde says disaster management and emergency services personnel have been amazing in ensuring the safety of residents.

# Germany will defend itself before the International Court of Justice today in a case of an alleged breach of the United Nations Genocide Convention, brought by Nicaragua. The Central American country asked the court to halt Berlin’s weapons sales to Israel, arguing it was complicit in genocide because of the sales and for ceasing funding of the UN’s aid agency, Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. BBC News reports Germany supplied 23-percent of Israel’s military equipment last year, to the tune of 6.7-billion-rand.

# Tennis: The big guns start their Monte Carlo Masters campaigns today after receiving byes in the first round. World number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia won the clay-court tournament twice, but couldn’t proceed past the quarterfinals since 2015. Second-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy is the in-form player at the moment, having won three tournaments so far this year. Third-seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz is a bit unsure if his ankle injury has healed sufficiently. Russian Daniil Medvedev is seeded fourth and German Alexander Zverev fifth.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-63-cents and the euro at 20-rand-23-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-57-cents and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-170-dollars-44-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-342-dollars-2-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-65-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….