News 13:00

BULLETIN 27 May 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa records a second laboratory-confirmed case of the M-pox disease
# The DA in Gauteng says over 38-thousand patients are waiting for surgery  
# AndcCricket: KKR’s star bowler Mitchell Starc is ready for the World Cup after a hot IPL 

# South Africa has recorded the second laboratory-confirmed case of M-pox, an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus with the potential to cause a painful or itchy rash like pimples or blisters. Health spokesperson Foster Mohale says the new patient is a 39-year-old man who was admitted at Addington Hospital in Durban. He says he didn’t have a travel history to countries and regions currently experiencing an outbreak of the disease:

# The DA in Gauteng says 38-thousand-164 patients are waiting for surgery in provincial hospitals, despite claims by Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko that all surgical backlogs have been cleared. The largest waiting list is seven-thousand-366 patients at Steve Biko Hospital. The DA’s Jack Bloom says the major reasons for the long waiting lists include staff vacancies, a shortage of ICU beds for aftercare, limited theatre time, infrastructure problems, and water and power cuts:

# The Home Affairs Department has confirmed that all its offices will remain open until 7 PM today and tomorrow to assist special voters. Offices will provide temporary identification certificates for those with ID issues, which will be accepted by the Electoral Commission. The department has also confirmed that offices will be open on election day on Wednesday as long as voting stations are open.

# Cricket: Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc says he is ready for the T20 World Cup despite the drain of the hotter than normal Indian Premier League. He shone for Kolkata Knight Riders in yesterday’s final against Sunrisers Hyderabad which they won by eight wickets. Starc lived up to his hefty price tag of almost 55-million-rand when he claimed 17 wickets in 13 matches. The World Cup starts in the Caribbean and the US on Saturday, and Australia’s first match is against Oman next Thursday.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-40-cents and the euro at 19-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-46-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-517-dollars-51-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-344-dollars-95-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-35-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Research has found that for 140 years, gold mines in Johannesburg have been leaking wastewater contaminated with heavy metals. The acid mine drainage from Johannesburg’s estimated 278 abandoned mines and 200 mine dumps includes uranium, copper, nickel and zinc. This has resulted in Soweto now being home to 1.9 million people who are exposed to acid mine drainage. The authors of the research say in cases of serious exposure to the heavy metals in acid mine drainage, birth defects, brain damage, cancer and miscarriages can result.

Stay tuned for more news………….