News 08:00

BULLETIN 22 April 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# More ANC heavyweights are going to campaign for the party ahead of the elections
# The DA slams Home Affairs for soaring legal fees
# And SAFTU condemns the US veto on a Palestinian attempt to gain statehood at the UN

# ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa says some of the party’s former leaders will be joining the election campaign trail to persuade South Africans to continue putting their faith in the ruling party. The likes of former president Thabo Mbeki, and former deputy presidents David Mabuza and Kgalema Motlanthe will be joining the campaign trail. Ramaphosa says the party is now ramping up its electioneering and the former leaders who will be joining the election campaign believe in what the ANC is trying to achieve.

# The Department of Home Affairs is facing scrutiny after it was revealed in Parliament that it spent over 412-million-rand on litigation in the past five years. This is an increase from seven-million-rand in 2018/2019 to 117-million-rand in 2023/2024. The DA’s Home Affairs spokesperson, Angel Khanyile, expressed concerns over the department’s reliance on private law firms and defending lawsuits without valid defenses. She calls for an investigation into wasteful expenditure:

# ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba and the party’s Mpumalanga premier candidate Thoko Mashiane will lead a picket outside the National Prosecuting Authority’s headquarters in Pretoria today. They are seeking a response to the delay in prosecutions in the Lily Mine matter. In 2016 three mineworkers were trapped in a metal container underground after a central pillar of ore collapsed. Their remains are still underground, eight years later. ActionSA’s, James de Villiers, says the families of the Lily Mine victims will join the picket:

# Union federation Saftu has condemned the US blocking a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have recognised a Palestinian state. The vote in the 15-member security council was 12 in favour, the US opposed and two abstentions, the UK and Switzerland. The US believes future statehood should be dependent on the outcomes of negotiations on all aspects of a Middle East peace settlement. Saftu says America’s veto is not surprising as it is consistent with its attitude toward Palestine for more than five decades now.

# Soccer: Manchester United survived a spirited comeback from Coventry City to win on penalties and reach another FA Cup final. The Reds were three-nil up in the 70th minute, but Coventry staged a late second-half comeback to take the match to extra-time. United eventually came out on top in a penalty shootout, winning four-two, to set up a rematch with Manchester City, a repeat of last year’s final. United manager, Erik ten Hag, says it’s not an embarrassment to nearly lose to a Championship side:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-9-cents and the euro at 20-rand-36-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-64-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-274-dollars-45-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-365-dollars-20-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 86-dollars-59-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….