News 11:00

BULLETIN 6 May 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation is admitted as friend of the court in the IEC’s appeal case
# The DA says 10111 call centres are almost 60% understaffed since Bheki Cele took over as minister of Police
# And cricket: Sri Lanka and Scotland seal their spots in the Women’s T20 World Cup

# The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation has been accepted as friend of the court in the Electoral Commission’s appeal to the Constitutional Court. The IEC is appealing the Electoral Court ruling giving former president Jacob Zuma the green light to stand for public office in the upcoming general elections. The IEC had disqualified Zuma as a result of the 15-month prison sentence he was given in 2021 for contempt of court. The foundation says the former president is a constitutional delinquent and is not suitable for Parliament. The matter will be heard on Friday.

# The DA says under Police minister Bheki Cele’s watch, the police service has less operational staff than five years ago, its detective service is in shambles, and unsolved cases are shelved every day. In response to a parliamentary question, the minister revealed that on a national average, 10111 call centres are currently staffed at 41.31-percent of their ideal personnel component. The DA’s Andrew Whitfield says this is indicative of Cele’s complete disregard for properly staffing and resourcing this vital public service:

# RISE Mzansi Gauteng is concerned about the ineffective strategies used by the ANC to fight unemployment in the province. South Africa’s unemployment rate increased to 32.1-percent in the fourth quarter of last year, trending above pre-pandemic levels. The unemployment rate increased in six provinces including Gauteng and the Western Cape. RISE Mzansi’s Tebogo Moalusi says current initiatives, such as Nasi iSpani, are only short-term fixes to address unemployment and must be scrapped:

# The World Organisation Against Torture is calling for peaceful elections in Chad. The African country heads to the polls today, in its first presidential election in three decades without long-serving leader Idriss Déby, who died in 2021. His son, Mahamat, who seized power after the junta rebels killed his father, is widely expected to win. Prime minister Succès Masra is among his nine challengers and is seen as his biggest rival. The organisation says this election represents a unique opportunity for Chad to open a new democratic and peaceful chapter.

# Cricket: Sri Lanka joined Scotland as the two teams to book the last spots in the Women’s T20 World Cup from the qualifier tournament in Abu Dhabi. Sri Lanka recorded a hard-fought 15-run win over the United Arab Emirates in the qualifier semifinal. Scotland beat Ireland by eight wickets to qualify for their first T20 World Cup. The tournament will be held in Bangladesh in October, where Australia will aim for a record seventh title.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-46-cents and the euro at 19-rand-87-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-19-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-325-dollars-1-cent. Gold sells at two-thousand-313-dollars-88-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-60-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….