News 08:00

BULLETIN 17 May 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Four ministers will accompany president Cyril Ramaphosa on his visit to the White House
# An AfriForum documentary goes viral after Elon Musk weighs in on South Africa’s racial policies
# And in tennis, it is Carlos Alcaraz against Jannik Sinner in the final of the Italian Open

# President Cyril Ramaphosa will visit the White House next week, accompanied by four Cabinet ministers. The Presidency confirmed that International Relations minister Ronald Lamola, minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Trade, Industries and Competition minister Parks Tau, and Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen will join the trip. Ramaphosa is set to meet US president Donald Trump on Wednesday to reset ties, with key discussions on trade, geopolitical tensions, Ukraine, Gaza, and G20 cooperation. This follows Trump’s threat to skip the G20 Summit in South Africa over alleged genocide concerns.

# AfriForum’s documentary Is Trump right about South Africa? has surpassed 30-million views after Elon Musk shared it on X, calling South Africa’s racial laws a shameful disgrace. The documentary criticises government’s discriminatory policies and discussions on racial laws, farm murders, and land expropriation. AfriForum’s Ernst van Zyl says this gives renewed hope that the truth about government’s actions is finally being exposed on a global scale:

# Eskom has reiterated that despite a more stable power system and load-shedding being suspended, the grid remains constrained. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokoena says over two-thousand-600-Megawatt is expected back online by Monday evening to help meet winter demand. Unplanned outages average over 14-thousand-Megawatt, above safe levels. She urges South Africans to avoid illegal connections and use power responsibly to help maintain supply during the winter season:

# The Transport Department is accelerating transformation in the sector following the completion of the revised transport sector codes draft which will be open for public comment soon. This includes an enterprise and supplier development fund to boost black-owned small, medium, and micro enterprises. Transport minister Barbara Creecy says SANRAL, PRASA, and Transnet are aligning procurement, rail reforms, and infrastructure projects to prioritise inclusive growth across the value chain:

# The man convicted of stabbing Salman Rushdie on a New York lecture stage in 2022, leaving the prizewinning author blind in one eye, was sentenced on Friday to serve 25 years in prison. A jury found the 27-year-old Hadi Matar guilty of attempted murder and assault in February. Authorities said Matar was attempting to carry out a decades-old fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death. Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued the fatwa after publication of Rushdie’s novel, “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous.

# And finally tennis: World number one Jannik Sinner set up a blockbuster Italian Open final against Carlos Alcaraz by fighting back to beat American Tommy Paul. Playing on home ground in his first tournament since a three-month doping ban, Sinner overcame the eleventh seed 1-6, 6-0, 6-3. In the other semi-final Spaniard Alcaraz dashed hopes of an all-Italian final by beating Lorenzo Musetti in two straight sets. World number five Jasmine Paolini will face Coco Gauff in the ladies final today as she bids to become the event’s first home women’s singles champion for 40 years.

Stay tuned for more news………….