News 11:00

BULLETIN 20 May 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The MK Party announces the three names that will serve on Parliament’s impeachment committee
# US vice president JD Vance says the conflict with Iran will not become a forever war
# And rugby: Four South Africans are up for the United Rugby Championship’s try of the year prize

# First deputy president and parliamentary leader, John Hlophe, is one of three MK Party members who will be part of Parliament’s 31-member impeachment committee. The other two are chief whip Mmabatho Mokoena- Zondi and Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala. The committee will look into whether president Cyril Ramaphosa violated his oath of office in the alleged cover-up of a burglary at his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo. The MK Party says it has full confidence that the three members will represent the party’s interests with integrity and sound judgment.

# The South African Private Practitioners Forum says a Constitutional Court ruling striking down the certificate of need provisions in the National Health Act is a major victory for healthcare professionals and patients. They were declared unconstitutional. The forum’s Simon Strachan says the judgment protects medical professionals’ independence and improves patient access to healthcare. He argues forcing practitioners into certain areas would not solve staffing shortages:

# The Public Servants Association has welcomed the dismissal of the Gauteng Gambling Board’s CEO, Karabo Mbele, over governance failures and gross misconduct. The board’s chief financial official, Oscar Maripane, has been suspended following revelations of procurement irregularities and financial governance failures. PSA’s Claude Naicker says this overdue intervention is a crucial step towards restoring accountability, ethical governance, and public confidence:

Moving abroad:

# US vice president JD Vance says they are locked and loaded to aggressively attack Iran again if a peace deal to end the war is not reached soon. President Donald Trump stated yesterday he was only an hour away from launching another military strike on Tehran, before he postponed it at the request of three Gulf nations. Vance believes the US has made a lot of progress in the negotiations, insisting this was not a forever war:

# Rugby: Fans can still vote for their United Rugby Championship try of the year, with four South African players being nominated. They are the Bulls’ players, Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard for the match against Scarlets, and Junior Springbok wing, Cheswill Jooste, for his five-pointer against Munster; Wandisile Simelane of the Stormers for the match against Ospreys, and the Lions’ Nico Steyn for the encounter with the Bulls. The Stormers’ Bok player, Deon Fourie, won the award last year. The winner will be announced early next month.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-69-cents and the euro at 19-rand-36-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-34-cents and Bitcoin trades at 77-thousand-318-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-473-dollars-67-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 106-dollars-25-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….