News 08:00

BULLETIN 16 May 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Election Commission defends the remarks made by commissioner Janet Love relating to Zuma
# AfriForum initiates a lawsuit against the government over the NHI Bill
# And Slovakia’s prime minister remains in critical condition following an assassination attempt

# The Electoral Commission has dismissed claims that its decision on former president Jacob Zuma’s eligibility was motivated by bias. The IEC has submitted a written response to the Constitutional Court after the apex court wanted clarity concerning statements made by Commissioner Janet Love. In January, Love stated that the Constitution disqualified any candidate with a criminal record from serving in the National Assembly. The IEC says Love commented before the MK party submitted its candidate list, making it unreasonable to anticipate objections to Zuma’s eligibility.

# AfriForum is gearing up for a class action lawsuit against the government, president Cyril Ramaphosa, parliament, and Health minister Joe Phaahla, over the unaffordable National Health Insurance policy. AfriForum’s campaign officer, Louis Boshoff, says they aim is to halt the bill’s implementation and hold responsible parties accountable. He expressed disappointment in Ramaphosa’s lack of public defense for the law:

# The DA has taken the City of Johannesburg to court over its controversial VIP protection policy, saying it is unlawful, invalid, and unconstitutional. Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda reportedly enjoys the protection of ten bodyguards and a fleet of luxury vehicles as part of his security detail. The DA’s, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, says with the tabling of the new budget by the city, they have found severely inflated human resource-related costs:

# Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico has undergone surgery after being shot five times, in what officials described as a politically motivated assassination attempt. The 59-year-old was shot yesterday while greeting supporters in the town of Handlová, northeast of the capital. A suspect was arrested. Fico won a third term as prime minister last October after running a campaign that criticised Western support for Ukraine. Slovakia’s President Zuzana Caputova says the assassination attempt was also an attack on democracy.

# Tennis: World number one Iga Swiatek of Poland will face American Coco Gauff in the semifinals of the Italian Open today. Swiatek aims to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2013 to win back-to-back singles titles in Madrid and Rome in the same season. World number two Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus takes on American Danielle Collins. This is the first time the world’s top three women’s players have reached the semifinals of a 250-level or higher WTA event since the 2013 French Open.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-27-cents and the euro at 19-rand-90-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-19-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-946-dollars-26-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-388-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-8-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….