News 11:00

BULLETIN 16 May 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The National Prosecuting Authority criticises Zuma’s appeal to revive Billy Downer’s private prosecution
# RISE Mzansi is suspicious about the extended suspension of load-shedding
# And Putin visits China for a third time in just more than a year

# The National Prosecuting Authority says former president Jacob Zuma’s latest appeal application is an abuse of court process. Zuma has applied to the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg’s ruling, which struck down his bid to bring criminal charges against the state prosecutor in his arms deal corruption case, Billy Downer. The NPA says the appeal is Zuma’s strategy to delay justice, as evidenced by successive litigation since 2005 aimed at postponing the trial.

# RISE Mzansi says the timing of the country experiencing uninterrupted power supply is suspicious. President Cyril Ramaphosa and Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa have dismissed suggestions that the suspension of load-shedding for more than a month now is an electioneering strategy. RISE Mzansi’s Tebogo Moalusi says the ANC should be reminded that the sudden halting of power cuts will not fix the corruption they have protected which has led to Eskom’s collapse:

# ActionSA in Johannesburg has described the city’s budget as anti-poor, saying it rejects it with the contempt it deserves. Mayoral committee member for Finance, Dada Morero, presented the 83.1-billion-rand budget earlier this week. It emphasises Johannesburg’s reliance on trading services like water and electricity for revenue. ActionSA’s Lukhanyo Gantsho says Morero’s presentation did not make mention of how they will prioritise job creation or deal with the metro’s dire billing system:

# Russian president Vladimir Putin has begun his two-day state visit to China by meeting with leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. The meeting between the two, the third in just over a year, comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raged on for more than two years. China has acted as a lifeline for Russia after Western sanctions were imposed, which sought to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. Xi says China and Russia will continue to work together to uphold fairness and justice in the world.

# Golf: PGA of America’s CEO, Seth Waugh, says Tiger Woods will be given plenty of time to decide whether he can captain the USA at next year’s Ryder Cup in New York. The 15-time major winner has said his part in negotiating a peace deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, could rule him out. The US were comprehensively beaten by Europe in Rome last year. Waugh says Woods does not do anything that he is not fully committed to:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-28-cents and the euro at 19-rand-89-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-963-dollars-65-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-387-dollars-24-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-18-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….