News 11:00

BULLETIN 30 April 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# An American court is asked to grant an extradition order for Magashule’s former assistent
# The GOOD Party is calling for minister Gordhan to account for Eskom’s diesel expenditure
# And boxing, minister Kodwa pays tribute to legend Dingaan Thobela

# US attorney Erek Barron has asked the Maryland District Court to grant South Africa’s request for the extradition of former ANC secretary general Ace Magashule’s former personal assistant, Moroadi Cholota. She is currently in jail in the US and is charged along with Magashule and 17 others for corruption over the failed 255-million-rand asbestos project in the Free State. In court papers, Barron, says South African authorities have produced overwhelming evidence of Cholota’s culpability in fraud and corruption, therefore the court should issue the certificate of extradition.

# The GOOD Party says the inefficiency of blowing billions of rands on diesel over the past few years has the same effect on the well-being of citizens as state capture. The Department of Public Enterprises recently revealed that Eskom has spent almost 65-billion-rand on diesel in the past five years, and 23-billion-rand in the past year. GOOD’s secretary-general, Brett Herron, says Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan must take the nation into his confidence about the failure to stabilise Eskom in his five-year term:

# Today is the deadline for the MK Party to file papers in the Constitutional Court, opposing the bid by the Electoral Commission to disqualify former president Jacob Zuma as a candidate for Parliament. The IEC is appealing an Electoral Court judgment, which found that the former president’s 15-month prison for contempt of a ConCourt order is not a sentence. This is because Zuma could not appeal. The MK Party has described the IEC’s appeal as a politically charged manoeuvre influenced by external pressures.

# The White House says antisemitism has no place in America, amid growing protests on university campuses by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Columbia University has started suspending students involved in a pro-Palestinian protest on campus after they defied a deadline to disperse. The university has become the centre of a spate of college protests across America, against Israel’s war in Gaza, which has led to the death of more than 34-thousand Palestinians. White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, described the protest as a painful moment:

# Boxing: Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture, Zizi Kodwa, has paid tribute to South African boxing legend Dingaan Thobela, saying he inspired the nation and future boxers. He died in his Johannesburg home at the age of 57. Popularly known as the Rose of Soweto, he boxed professionally for 16 years and claimed three world titles in two weight divisions. Kodwa’s spokesperson, Litha Mpondwana, says Thobela did so much to elevate South African sport through his success in boxing:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-68-cents and the euro at 20-rand. One British pound costs 23-rand-41-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-377-dollars-84-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-320-dollars-98-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-20-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….