News 11:00

BULLETIN 8 May 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Election Commission reveals it would cost 587-million-rand to postpone the elections
# The Western Cape premier lauds the work of the rescue teams in George
# And, the US paused a shipment of bombs to Israel amid concerns of a Rafah invasion

# The Electoral Commission says it would cost about 587-million-rand to postpone the 29 May elections. The Constitutional Court will hear applications by three parties today, who accuse the IEC of unfairly excluding them from participating in the election. Ace Magashule’s African Congress for Transformation, mining union Amcu’s Labour Party, and the Afrikan Alliance of Social Democrats failed to meet the deadline to submit their candidate lists. The parties want the submission window reopened and the elections postponed. The IEC says in court papers the parties have only themselves to blame.

# Western Cape premier Alan Winde says rescue and emergency response teams have been working tirelessly to rescue the remaining 39 workers trapped under rubble following the George building collapse. Seven workers have died and 36 were rescued. Winde says while an arduous few days still lie ahead as search and rescue efforts continue, the heart and soul that volunteers and non-governmental organisations have shown to the families of the affected construction workers has been extraordinary.

# The EFF in Gauteng has welcomed the forfeiture order valued at 53-million-rand granted to the Special Investigating Unit, as part of an investigation into the fraudulent transfer of government land to a syndicate. The SIU says a syndicate defrauded the Gauteng Rural Development and Land Reform Department and the deeds registries in Vryburg, Pretoria and Johannesburg. The EFF’s Dumisani Baleni says criminal proceedings must be instituted promptly to hold those responsible accountable:

# The US paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week, amid concerns over their potential use in an invasion in Rafah in Gaza. The shipment included over three-thousand bombs. The Israeli military has seized the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in Rafah, cutting off a vital route for humanitarian aid. A US official told the Washington Post the postponement of the shipment was intended to convey to Israel the seriousness of America’s concerns about its offensive in Rafah.

# Motorsport: US House Judiciary Committee chairperson, Jim Jordan, has launched an investigation into Formula One’s rejection of Andretti Cadillac’s bid to join the grid in 2025 or 2026. The bid, headed by former McLaren driver Michael Andretti, was rejected in January. F1, as the sport’s commercial rights holder, said the presence of an eleventh team on the grid would not, on its own, provide value to the championship. Jordan wants answers to ensure that no illegal anti-competitive behaviour took place.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-55-cents and the euro at 19-rand-94-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-17-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-354-dollars-18-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-313-dollars-31-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-25-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….