News 08:00

BULLETIN 28 May 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AfriForum has criticised minister Hlabisa’s comments on the possible merger of municipalities 
# Theuns du Toit is considering legal action against Stellenbosch University
# And Israeli troops opened fire as crowds overran a new aid distribution site in Gaza

# AfriForum has criticised minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa’s comments that smaller, failed municipalities should merge with larger municipalities. This comes as the minister has launched a major review of the 1998 White Paper on Local Government. The review will examine the funding model of municipalities and could lead to the closure of municipalities that are failing to provide services. AfriForum’s, Deidré Steffens, says the merger of municipalities will not solve the core problems:

# The DA says it supports the Special Investigating Unit’s plans to apply to the Special Tribunal to have the National Student Financial Aid Scheme’s controversial head office lease set aside. The 18.6-million-rand five-year lease for the rental of 140 parking bays for staff in Cape Town was signed by the previous NSFAS CEO, Andile Nongogo. The lease expires in 2027. The DA’s, Desiree van der Walt, says this extravagant waste of students’ money should never have been allowed to happen:

# Former Stellenbosch University student, Theuns du Toit, who was charged for urinating on another student’s belongings in 2022, is considering instituting a civil claim against the institution. The Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court has found him not guilty of crimen injuria and malicious damage to property. Du Toit was expelled after a disciplinary hearing found him guilty of violating the disciplinary code for students. His lawyer, Dirk van Niekerk, has told News24 that the university acted recklessly as his client was found guilty without the evidence being thoroughly verified.

# The Israeli Defence Force says it was forced to fire warning shots near the new aid distribution site in Rafah, Gaza. This is after thousands of Palestinians desperate for food broke fences to reach supplies, resulting in the newly established US-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation losing control of the distribution site. The foundation says so far it has handed out about eight-thousand food boxes, equivalent to 462-thousand meals, which is just a fraction of what is needed. Aid distribution is set to continue today.

# Tennis: Britain’s Cameron Norrie knocked out 11th seed Russian Daniil Medvedev, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5, to advance to the French Open second round. Three-time champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia eased passed American Mackenzie McDonald, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, while Russian Andrey Rublev defeated South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. In the women’s draw, American Coco Gauff is through to the second round following a 6-2, 6-2, victory against Australia’s Olivia Gadecki, while Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur crashed after going down 7-6, 6-0, to Poland’s Magdalena Fręch.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-95-cents and the euro at 20-rand-30-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-20-cents and Bitcoin trades at 108-thousand-892-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-298-dollars-15-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-76-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….