News 11:00

BULLETIN 28 May 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# BOSA says Ramaphosa failed to answer a parliamentary question on Starlink and black economic empowerment
# The FF Plus says former Matie student Theuns du Toit can now move on without being labelled a racist
# And rugby: Duhan van der Merwe from Edinburgh could face the Bulls after a long-time injury

# Build One South Africa plans to ask National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza to demand a written response from president Cyril Ramaphosa following his failure to answer an oral question posed by leader, Mmusi Maimane, in Parliament. The question centred around whether the relaxation of black economic empowerment regulations that opens the door for Starlink to operate in South Africa will apply equally to locally-owned companies. BOSA’s spokesperson, Roger Solomons, says Ramaphosa avoided the substance of the question entirely:

Meanwhile, the Centre for Development and Enterprise says the implementation of the proposed 100-billion-rand Transformation Fund will undermine existing efforts to promote economic inclusion. The goal of the fund is to promote the participation of black-owned enterprises and marginalised groups. The centre has made a submission to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition on the concept document of the fund. Executive director, Ann Bernstein, says the fund’s proposal is based on an inaccurate assessment of what transformation requires.

# The Freedom Front Plus says the case which was meant to serve as evidence of a deeply entrenched culture of racism at Stellenbosch University, has ended in the accused being found not guilty. Former student Theuns du Toit, who was charged after urinating on the belongings of a fellow student in 2022, has been acquitted. The FF Plus’s Wynand Boshoff says Du Toit can now move on with his life without being labelled a contemptuous racist:

# Texas governor Greg Abbott has signed an online child safety bill. The legislation requires Apple and Google to verify users’ ages and obtain parental approval for minors to download apps or make in-app purchases. Abbott says this new law will enable the US state to empower parents to have more control over the online content their children can access. Apple supports the goal of strengthening kids’ online safety, but expressed concern about the threat it believes the law poses to the privacy of all users.

# Rugby: Edinburgh’s South African-born Scottish winger, Duhan van der Merwe, is back from a long-time ankle injury and could face the Bulls in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship quarterfinal in Pretoria. He joined his teammates on the plane to South Africa yesterday. Van der Merwe will also represent the British and Irish Lions again this year after travelling with the team to South Africa in 2021. Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt describes him as a world-class player who will bring a wealth of experience to the team.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-99-cents and the euro at 20-rand-35-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 108-thousand-842-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-307-dollars-38-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-84-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….