News 08:00

BULLETIN 29 May 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Parliament’s Impeachment Committee will hold its first meeting on Monday
# The organisers of the Conference of the Left refute claims of setting up a new political party
# And, JD Vance says the US and Iran have made a lot of progress towards a deal

# The National Assembly’s Impeachment Committee, established to investigate alleged misconduct by president Cyril Ramaphosa, will sit for its first meeting on Monday. During the meeting, the chairperson of the committee will be elected. The Constitutional Court ruled earlier this month that the 2022 vote by Parliament not to proceed with an impeachment inquiry following recommendations by the Section 89 panel report was unlawful. Meanwhile, Parliament is still awaiting the president’s court papers and legal advice on whether to oppose Ramaphosa’s legal review.

# Organisers of the Conference of the Left have dismissed suggestions that they are forming a political party, but rather creating a framework to coordinate and strengthen their work through a common platform and programme. The South African Communist Party-sponsored gathering will take place in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, today and tomorrow. Fourteen political parties, including the EFF, will attend the event. SACP General Secretary, Solly Mapaila, says the ANC has missed an opportunity by refusing to participate in the event:

# Johannesburg mayor, Dada Morero, has welcomed the Gauteng High Court ruling against the owners of Marble Towers. The court ruled that the structures inside Marble Towers, where hawkers have been trading, are unlawful and were erected without building plans. The owners, Goldenrod Group, were found to have failed to obtain approved building plans from the metro and did not prove why an urgent interdict against the municipality should be granted. Morero says the ruling supports the metro’s efforts to enforce bylaws:

# US vice president JD Vance says Washington and Iran have made good progress on reaching an agreement, but there are still several sticking points. The deal would reportedly extend the ceasefire for 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and launch talks on the future of Tehran’s nuclear programme. Meanwhile, both Iran and the US have accused each other of violating the fragile ceasefire in the past few days. Vance says he cannot yet guarantee a deal will be reached:

# Rugby: Junior Springbok coach Kevin Foote has named a reshuffled match-day squad for their final Under-20 International Series encounter against Georgia in Stellenbosch tomorrow. Captain Riley Norton is back after missing the opening match against Chile because of his involvement at the Springbok alignment camp. Vusi Moyo will start his third consecutive game at flyhalf, while Luan Giliomee gets another start at fullback. In the loose trio, Oliver Reid, previously used off the bench, gets the nod as one of the two starting props in the reshuffled front row.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-23-cents and the euro at 18-rand-90-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-81-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 73-thousand-299-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-495-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 91-dollars-41-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….