News 09:00

BULLETIN 21 April 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Madlanga Commission clarifies its relationship with the special investigation task team
# Minister Kubayi calls for accelerated transformation in the legal sector
# And, John Ternus takes over as Apple’s new CEO, with Tim Cook stepping down after 15 years

# The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry has moved to clarify that the so-called ‘Madlanga Task Team’ is not a structure of the commission. National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola established the special investigations task team to follow up on referrals made in the commission’s first interim report submitted to president Cyril Ramaphosa in December last year. The commission’s spokesperson, Jeremy Michaels, says it is making this clarification because, recently, there have been media reports that the task team has arrested certain people:

# Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, has emphasised that the transformation of the legal sector remains integral to sustaining South Africa’s democracy. She addressed legal practitioners during a high-level stakeholder engagement in Pretoria yesterday, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen collaboration and advance transformation within the legal sector. Kubayi underscored that meaningful reform of the legal profession is no longer optional, but a constitutional and economic imperative:

# The City of Cape Town says mopping operations are continuing following heavy rain and localised flooding over the weekend. Approximately 480 flooding-related complaints were received since Friday until yesterday morning. Areas that have been most affected include Dunoon, Philippi East and Khayelitsha. Mayoral committee member for Urban Mobility, Rob Quintas, says while much of the water has drained as designed, challenges remain where illegal structures block access to stormwater infrastructure, and where debris clogs the system:

# Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down after 15 years, with senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus, named as his successor. Cook first joined Apple in March 1998 and was named CEO in August 2011, shortly before the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. Cook, who led the company to be valued at over 65-trillion-rand, described the job as the greatest privilege of his life. He will become executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors. Cook says Ternus is a visionary and will lead with integrity and honour.

# Cricket: The Mumbai Indians ended their four-match losing streak with a comprehensive 99-run victory against the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League in Ahmedabad. Tilak Varma was brilliant with the bat, scoring a career-best unbeaten 101 from 45 balls as Mumbai posted 199 for five in their 20 overs. In reply, the Titans’ run chase never materialised as they were bowled out for 100 in just 15.5 overs, with Ashwani Kumar taking four wickets. The win lifts Mumbai to seventh on the IPL table, a place behind the Titans.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-38-cents and the euro at 19-rand-28-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-14-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 74-thousand-686-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-794-dollars-27-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-80-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….