News 11:00

BULLETIN 16 May 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Presidency expects the meeting between Ramaphosa and Trump to observe the right decorum
# The Western Cape High Court has declared parts of the Refugees Act unconstitutional
# And golf: Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas leads the PGA Championship after the opening round

# The Presidency says it expects next week’s meeting between president Cyril Ramaphosa and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to observe the right decorum. The meeting will be a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries. Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told the SABC the president is mindful of what could happen, given what transpired when Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House, but he is not fearful:

Cosatu has welcomed the meeting. Since starting his second term in January, Trump has accused South Africa of orchestrating a genocide against white Afrikaner farmers and seizing their land. The US is South Africa’s second largest trading partner after China. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says the visit will provide an opportunity to unlock a process to address political, trade and other difficulties in the bilateral relationship between the countries:

# The Western Cape High Court has declared parts of the Refugees Act unconstitutional, offering reprieve to some asylum seekers. The judgment follows a two-year legal challenge by the Scalabrini Centre, which argued that deporting people without considering asylum claims violates constitutional rights. The court found that barring applications based on unlawful entry contradicts the non-refoulement principle. The ruling now heads to the Constitutional Court for confirmation before it can take effect. Deportations remain suspended pending the outcome.

# Legendary Motown singer-songwriter, Smokey Robinson, is under criminal investigation after being accused of sexual assault. The 85-year-old was sued by former female employees last week, accusing him of sexual battery, false imprisonment and negligence. The four women worked for him between 2006 and last year. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says the investigation is at an early stage. Robinson’s lawyer, Christopher Frost, says his client did nothing wrong, and this is a desperate attempt to prejudice public opinion.

# Golf: Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas carded an opening round of seven-under 64 to take a two-shot lead over American Ryan Gerard and Australian Cam Davis at the US PGA Championship in North Carolina. Masters champion Rory McIlroy had an error-filled opening round, as the Northern Irishman ended the day ten shots behind the leader. South Africa’s Garrick Higgo and world number one, American Scottie Scheffler, are among a nine-way tie for 20th at two-under par. Vegas has described his start as incredible:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-3-cent and the euro at 20-rand-22-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-2-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-905-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-213-dollars-82-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-1-cent a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….