News 13:00

BULLETIN 24 May 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Police minister Bheki Cele opens the NATJOINTS Coordination Centre 
# Cosatu says the signing into law of the NPA Amendment Bill is important
# And soccer:  Diego Maradona’s family tries to block the sale of his Golden Ball trophy 

# The ministers of the justice, crime prevention and security cluster, led by Police minister Bheki Cele, have inaugurated the NATJOINTS coordination centre at the Police Academy in Tshwane ahead of the elections. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to monitor national security, coordinate information, and manage responses to ensure a secure election process. National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe says vehicles will also be handed over to increase police visibility:

# Cosatu welcomes president Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to sign the much-anticipated National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Bill into law today. The bill provides for the replacement of the NPA’s Investigating Directorate with a permanent structure, the Investigating Directorate against Corruption, and also provide for the appointment of its investigators. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says this bill will provide a badly needed intervention for the NPA and the state in the war against corruption:

# The National Energy Regulator of South Africa has registered 105 generation facilities between January to March this year. The total capacity of the generation facilities is 788 megawatts, with a total investment value of 18.4-billion-rand. Nersa’s spokesperson, Charles Hlebela, says the composition of the registered generation facilities consists of solar photovoltaic with battery energy storage system, wind turbine, cogeneration and gas:

# Soccer: Argentian legend Diego Maradona’s heirs are trying to block the sale of the Golden Ball trophy he earned in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. It is expected to fetch millions when it is auctioned in France early next month. The trophy disappeared decades ago before a French antique dealer found it in Paris in 2016. The Maradona family’s lawyers argue it rightly belongs to his heirs. A court will decide next week whether the auction may go ahead. Maradona died in 2020, aged 60.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-39-cents and the euro at 19-rand-91-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-38-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-51-dollars-32-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-341-dollars-79-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-94-cents a barrel.

# And finally: At least 83 howler monkeys have been found dead in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Tabasco, while others were rescued by residents who rushed them to a local veterinarian. Mantled howler monkeys are known for their roaring calls and are classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list. The primates were found dead amidst a drought and severely high temperatures. Mexico’s Environment ministry attributes the monkeys’ deaths to several possible reasons, including heat stroke, dehydration, malnutrition or the spraying of crops with toxic agrochemicals.

Stay tuned for more news………….