News 07:00

BULLETIN 27 May 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# John Steenhuisen is confident the ANC will lose its outright majority
# Voters are asked to familiarise themselves with the three ballot papers
# And cricket: The West Indies complete a T20 series whitewash against South Africa

# DA leader John Steenhuisen says he is confident the ANC will lose the outright majority it has abused for decades on Wednesday. Polls predict that the ANC will get below 50-percent, losing its majority for the first time since taking power in 1994. Addressing supporters in the party’s final election rally in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, yesterday, Steenhuisen urged supporters to deliver a decisive victory for the party:

# IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa says South Africans must make Wednesday’s elections a watershed moment, and a turning point away from unemployment, crime, load-shedding, corruption, and poor service delivery. He addressed supporters at the party’s final election rally in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday. The election is the first the IFP has fought without founder Mangosuthu Buthelezi, following his passing last year. Hlabisa says his party is willing to stand up as an alternative government in the elections:

# The Electoral Commission urges voters to remember they can only put one mark on each ballot. More than one mark will result in a spoiled vote and will not counted. The national ballot consists of a list of parties vying for 200 seats in the National Assembly. The regional or province-to-national ballots have parties and independent candidates contesting seats reserved for each province. The IEC says the provincial ballot is unique to each province and includes parties and independent candidates competing for seats in each respective provincial legislature. 

# Three learners have been arrested at a school in Petit, Ekurhuleni for the alleged possession of an unlicenced firearm and ammunition. The metro police’s Lerato Monyane says officers were informed of learners causing havoc at the school on Friday. The officers proceeded to the school and found three learners aged between 14 and 16 in the principal’s office:

# At least 35 people were killed in an Israeli strike at a camp for displaced people in Rafah, Gaza, yesterday. This comes as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled. The Israeli Defence Force says its air force struck a Hamas compound, and that the strike was carried out with precise ammunition and based on precise intelligence. A senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, has described the attack as a massacre, saying the US was responsible for aiding Israel with weapons and money.

# Cricket: The West Indies defeated South Africa by eight wickets in the third and final T20 to complete a three-nil sweep of the series in Jamaica. Obed McCoy took three wickets as the Windies restricted the Proteas to 163 for seven, with Rassie van der Dussen scoring a half-century. In reply, Johnson Charles scored 69 as the West Indies completed their chase with 37 balls to spare. South Africa has won just two of their last eleven completed matches since the last T20 World Cup.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-41-cents and the euro at 19-rand-98-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-46-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-221-dollars-61-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-339-dollars-95-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-29-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….