News 07:00

BULLETIN 28 May 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Election Commission warns against misinformation ahead of the elections
# Solidarity approaches the courts to have the NHI Act declared unconstitutional
# And the closing arguments in Trump’s hush money trial begins

# The Electoral Commission has warned voters to be vigilant against misinformation and disinformation circulating before the elections. In a media briefing, the commission addressed circulating videos depicting unclear ballots, clarifying that these do not pertain to South African elections. Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Masego Sheburi assured that all votes, including special votes, will be counted transparently from Wednesday and in the presence of party agents to ensure election integrity:

# The IFP says it is concerned about the safety of its KwaZulu-Natal chairperson and premier candidate Thami Ntuli. The party says four armed individuals purporting to be law enforcement officers intercepted the convoy of Ntuli on the N2 towards Richards Bay on Sunday. He was returning from an election event. The four, dressed in police overalls and wearing balaclavas to conceal their identities, forcibly detained the convoy. The IFP is calling on law enforcement agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into this incident.

# Solidarity has asked the North Gauteng High Court to declare the National Health Insurance Act unconstitutional and invalid. Earlier this month, president Cyril Ramaphosa signed the NHI Bill into law amid strong criticism from political parties and civil society organisations. The objective of the NHI l is to provide universal access to quality health care for all South Africans as enshrined in the Constitution. Solidarity’s, Connie Mulder, says the NHI Act is technically flawed:

Meanwhile, AfriForum has discussed NHI lawsuits at a joint crisis summit hosted by Solidarity. Campaign officer Louis Boshoff says representatives from various organisations and opposition parties, including the Free Market Foundation and Freedom Front Plus, were in attendance. Boshoff says that the summit explored legal strategies against NHI. He expressed optimism that the law will be overturned despite anticipating a lengthy legal battle:

# Closing arguments will begin in former US president Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York today. He faces charges for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet over their alleged sexual encounter. The payment of almost 2.4-million-rand was made during Trump’s election campaign in 2016. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, testified during the trial they met in Trump’s hotel room at Lake Tahoe in 2006. He denies this.

# Motorsport: Alpine Formula One boss Bruno Famin is reportedly considering dropping Esteban Ocon for the Canadian Grand Prix next weekend. This comes after Ocon had an accident with his teammate Pierre Gasly on the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix. Ocon retired from the race during the red flag period but Gasly went on to finish tenth and scored his first point of the season. The stewards gave Ocon a five-grid place penalty for Canada. Famin says they are going to make a tough decision.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-36-cents and the euro at 19-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-47-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-601-dollars-69-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-353-dollars-31-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-94-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….