News 07:00

BULLETIN 4 June 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The UDM seeks clarity from the Election Commission on the National Assembly seat allocation
# Cape Town’s disaster teams are on high alert as heavy rain and flooding is expected
# And Donald Trump wants the Supreme Court to intervene in his hush-money conviction

# The United Democratic Movement has written to Electoral Commission CEO Sy Mamabolo, seeking clarity on the final seat allocation in the National Assembly. UDM secretary-general, Yongama Zigebe, points out that despite receiving 78-thousand-391 votes, the UDM was allocated two seats, while Al Jama-ah and the National Coloured Congress each received two seats with significantly fewer votes. He claims the UDM should have four seats, raising concerns about the fairness and accuracy of the allocation process.

# Political analyst professor Richard Calland says the ANC not securing an outright majority represents a seismic shift in South African politics. The party’s national executive committee is expected to meet today to discuss coalitions, in what has been described as arguably the movement’s biggest crisis in the past 30 years. With the Electoral Commission declaring the election results on Sunday, Parliament has 14 days to elect a president. Calland says the country’s politics has now carved two paths:

# Solidarity has issued a warning about the so-called two-pot system, saying it entails major risks. President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, which establishes a two-pot system. It gives access to retirement savings without retirement fund members having to resign or cash out the entire pension funds. The system aims to address the concerns related to the lack of preservation before retirement. Solidarity says the main risk of the system is that on the day of retirement, there will be much less retirement money available.

# The City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management Centre teams are on high alert after the South African Weather Service issued a Level Four warning for today. Rainfall accumulation is expected to be ten to 20 millimetres in most places, while rainfall in isolated areas in the West Coast District could reach 50 to 60 millimetres. Disaster Risk Management’s spokesperson, Sonica Lategan, says disruptive rain resulting in localised flooding is expected:

# Former US president Donald Trump has called on the Supreme Court to annul his guilty verdict in a hush-money trial. Last week he became the first American president to become a convicted felon. This is after a jury found him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal an alleged affair during his 2016 campaign. The Supreme Court is already weighing a separate case in which Trump wants immunity from prosecution, over his actions after the 2020 election, when he tried to subvert the results.

# Rugby: Former Springbok flyhalf Curwin Bosch is on his way to France. He is leaving the Sharks to join French ProD2 club Brive after playing in Durban since 2016. Bosch’s decision is said to have been caused by Siya Masuku replacing him as first-choice number 10, as well as Jordan Hendrikse joining the Sharks from the Lions next season. The 26-year-old played three Tests for South Africa in 2017. The French club describes Bosch as a player with a wide technical range.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-53-cents and the euro at 20-rand-22-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-284-dollars-79-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-347-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….