News 13:00

BULLETIN 26 May 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AZAPO calls on all South Africans to go out and vote
# The UN fears 670 people could be buried under the Papua New Guinea landslide
# And, tennis: Nadal hints at returning to the French Open next year

# The Azanian People’s Organisation is enthusiastic about the mood among voters and calls on every registered voter to go out on Wednesday and make their cross. AZAPO’s Jabu Rakwena says the legitimacy of the elections will be confirmed by, among other things, an overwhelmingly huge turnout. Rakwena says this will truly endorse the real will of the people:

# RISE Mzansi in Gauteng calls premier Panyaza Lesufi to comply with the High Court in Johannesburg’s ruling forcing the provincial government to speed up funding decisions for non-profit organisations. RISE Mzansi’s spokesperson, Tebogo Moalusi, accuses Lesufi of lying to NPOs about reversing the budget cuts by the Department of Social Development and speeding up funding payments. Moalusi says this is classic ANC electioneering:

# The City of Cape Town has fined the Department of Public Works following repeated efforts to get conditions addressed at two hijacked sites owned by government. The sites are in Keizersgracht, District Six, and Jan Smuts Drive in Maitland. Both properties have been formally declared problem buildings. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says signage has been erected informing the public of the city’s action:

# A UN official says about 670 people are estimated to be buried under a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea. The head of the International Organisation for Migration in Papua New Guinea, Serhan Aktoprak, says the impact of Friday’s landslide in the country’s isolated Enga province was greater than initially thought. According to Aktoprak, an estimated 150-plus houses have been buried. Rescuers are at risk as the land is still sliding.

# And, tennis: Rafael Nadal admits this year’s French Open could be his last, but says he is not 100-percent certain. The Spanish champion, who has won the French Open 14 times and will celebrate his 38th birthday on 3 June, faces world number four Alexander Zverev of Germany in the first round in Paris tomorrow. Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam titles – second only to Novak Djokovic’s 24 on the all-time men’s list – but his career has been plagued by injuries.

Stay tuned for more news………….