News 11:00

BULLETIN 5 March 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# An analyst belies the ANC and the IFP will form a national coalition after the elections

# A report by the United Nations reveals Hamas raped and tortured Israeli hostages

# And the World Anti-Doping Agency suspends South Africa’s doping control laboratory

# An analyst says in the scenario of the ANC getting less than 45-percent of the votes, a coalition with the IFP alongside some smaller parties would carry the ruling party into government. Krutham analyst, Peter Attard Montalto, has the ANC obtaining 43.6-percent of the vote nationally, with KwaZulu-Natal emerging as central to the 29th of May elections. He says a post-election National Assembly would see a handful of seats for the Patriotic Alliance and seven or eight seats for Rise Mzansi.  

# The University of Cape Town says an invitation extended to former Eskom boss, Matshela Koko, was not an endorsement but was in accordance with academic freedom at the institution. Koko, who was implicated in the state capture commission of inquiry’s report, was last week invited by the university’s Civil Engineering Department, to lecture students on ethics and professionalism. UCT says it acknowledges the valuable work of the Zondo commission, however, it also notes that Koko has not been convicted of any criminal act by any court of law.

# RISE Mzansi says newly appointed Gauteng police commissioner, Tommy Mthombeni, must guard against political interference in the execution of his mandate of preventing, combatting, and investigating crime. Mthombeni, who has been in the South African Police Service for over 38 years, has taken over from Elias Mawela, who retired last month. RISE Mzansi’s spokesperson, Mabine Seabe, says it is clear that the current policing methods are not working to keep Gauteng communities safe:

# There is convincing information that some women and children held hostage by Hamas have been subjected to rape and sexualised torture. This is according to a report by the United Nations. Hamas infiltrated southern Israel on the seventh of October last year, killing about one-thousand-200 people and taking 253 others hostage. Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, killing over 30-thousand people. UN special representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, says hostages are receiving inhuman and degrading treatment:

# The World Anti-Doping Agency has suspended the South African Doping Control Laboratory in Bloemfontein for a period of up to six months. This is due to the facility’s multiple non-conformities with the International Standard for Laboratories. The agency says the suspension prohibits the laboratory from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including analyses of urine and blood samples, except analysis related to the Athlete Biological Passport hematological module. The facility is Africa’s only accredited drug-testing laboratory.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-8-cents and the euro at 20-rand-70-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-19-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-271-dollars-21-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-113-dollars-99-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-35-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….