News 13:00

BULLETIN 14 May 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Hawks raid the High Court in Pretoria over fraudulent notices issued to foreign nationals
# Minister Ramokgopa apologises for the sudden return of loadshedding
# And mixed martial arts: Dricus du Plessis will defend his middleweight title in August

# The Hawks conducted a search and seizure operation at the High Court in Pretoria, targeting an employee suspected of issuing fraudulent notices of motion. Gauteng Hawks spokesperson Katlego Mogale says it is alleged that the employee has been issuing fraudulent notices to undocumented foreign nationals to prevent their deportation to their countries of origin. Mogale adds that exhibits were seized for further investigation.

Meanwhile, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has confirmed the reclamation of 15 illegally occupied buildings in the Johannesburg central business district. He says these structures are set to be demolished and rebuilt. An estimated 413 such buildings have been identified across the province. Lesufi highlighted that many of these buildings are occupied by undocumented foreign nationals, complicating eviction processes due to legal requirements for alternative accommodation. He says the provincial government is actively verifying and addressing the illegal occupations.

# Electricity and Energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has apologised for the sudden return of loadshedding yesterday, but remains optimistic of a loadshedding-free winter. Eskom has been forced to implement stage two loadshedding during evening peak hours from 4pm to 10pm until tomorrow. This follows the delayed return of generation units and breakdowns over the last 24 hours. Ramokgopa says they are working hard to ensure that loadshedding is not normalised:

# Mixed martial arts: South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis will defend his undisputed world middleweight title against Russia’s Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 at the United Centre in Chicago on the 17th of August. Du Plessis defending his title against the American Sean Strickland in February. Du Plessis has won 20 of his 23 fights by knockout, while Chimaev holds an undefeated record of 16-0.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-19-cents and the euro at 20-rand-48-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-29-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-224-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-229-dollars-31-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-88-cents a barrel.

# And finally: South Africa’s public healthcare system is performing well by international standards in keeping healthcare affordable. This is despite only 15-percent of the population having access to private healthcare. At the 2025 Board of Healthcare Funders Conference in Cape Town, stakeholders such as policymakers, clinicians, and innovators emphasised the need for healthcare reform. BHF managing director Katlego Mothudi told the SABC the main focus was on making healthcare more accessible to all South Africans:

Stay tuned for more news………….