News 09:00

BULLETIN 21 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Freedom Front Plus says the confirmation of the election date brings certainty to parties and voters
# ActionSA says it is ready to remove the ANC from office
# And, Thabo Bester and his co-accused are back in court for a pre-trial conference

# The Freedom Front Plus welcomes the confirmation of the election date, saying this brings more certainty for political parties and voters. South Africans will head to the polls on the 29th of May this year. FF Plus leader, Pieter Groenewald, says this certainty will kickstart the momentum among political parties, organisations, and the public for the election which is of utmost importance for the future of South Africa:

Meanwhile, ActionSA’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, says over the past two years the party has built structures across all nine provinces, with branches now in over 45-percent of the wards of the country. He says they are ready for the election and determined to remove the ANC from office:

# The pre-trial conference against the convicted rapist and murderer, Thabo Bester, and his co-accused is expected to begin in the High Court in Bloemfontein today. Nine people, including Bester’s girlfriend Nandipha Maguduma, and her father are facing multiple charges, including fraud, corruption, aiding and abetting a convict, violation of a corpse, defeating the ends of justice, and arson. Bester is being kept under strict surveillance at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Facility in Tshwane.

# Two men have been charged with murder in connection with a shooting following the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade last week. A woman identified as Lisa Lopez Galvan was killed and 22 other people were injured in the shooting, in Kansas City, Missouri. Jackson County Prosecutor, Jean Peters Baker, says the suspects, Dominic Miller and Lyndell Mays, have been charged with second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon:

# Cricket: India’s fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, has been rested for the fourth Test against England in Ranchi, starting on Friday. The world’s number one-ranked men’s Test bowler is the leading wicket-taker in the series so far with 17. The Board of Control for Cricket in India says the decision to rest Bumrah has been taken keeping in mind the amount of cricket he has played in recent times. Fast bowler, Mukesh Kumar, who was released from the team for the third Test, has joined up with the squad in Ranchi.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-88-cents and the euro at 20-rand-42-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 51-thousand-967-dollars-98-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-30-dollars-92-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-58-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….