News 14:00

BULLETIN 12 May 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA will lay criminal charges against Ramaphosa over the Phala Phala cash claims
# The FF Plus claims Ekurhuleni’s two-billion-rand cybercrime scandal proves a total governance collapse
# And soccer: America’s ambassador uses the World Cup to strengthen South African ties

# ActionSA plans to lay criminal charges against president Cyril Ramaphosa over alleged discrepancies in the amount of money stolen from his Phala Phala farm in February 2020. The party’s Michael Beaumont alleges violations of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, as well as charges of fraud and perjury, claiming the amount involved was at least 15-million-rand. He says the case will proceed through all constitutional channels:

Meanwhile, COPE says Ramaphosa has the constitutional right to seek a judicial review of the Section 89 Independent Panel’s findings related to the matter. The party’s Pakes Dikgetsi says the Constitutional Court judgment highlights failures in Parliament’s oversight role and warns against both shielding leaders from accountability and destabilising democratic institutions. Dikgetsi insists the impeachment process must proceed independently and transparently:

# The Freedom Front Plus in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, is concerned by the parliamentary standing committee on Public Accounts’ revelation of extensive cybercrime in the metro. The party’s Denise Janse van Rensburg says cybercriminals are estimated to have stolen more than two-billion-rand from the metro’s billing system over an extended period. She says this shocking revelation serves as further proof of the ANC-led coalition’s maladministration:

# The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa says South Africa exported 2.9 million tonnes of citrus last year, making it the world’s largest citrus exporter by volume ahead of Spain. The association’s CEO Boitshoko Ntshabele says growth has been driven by investment in orchards, strong export standards and global demand. Ntshabele says government must improve market access to key regions including the European Union, the United States, India and China. The citrus industry currently supports more than 140-thousand jobs across South Africa’s rural communities. 

# Soccer: American ambassador to South Africa, Brent Bozell, says the World Cup will help strengthen diplomatic ties between the countries through sport. Bozell and the envoys from the other host countries, Mexican ambassador Sara Valdés Bolaño and Canadian high commissioner James Christoff, and Sports minister Gayton McKenzie, honored Bafana Bafana in Pretoria ahead of the tournament. Bozell says soccer diplomacy can help rebuild relations while promoting unity and international cooperation.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-51-cents and the euro at 19-rand-40-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-36-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-785-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-701-dollars-68-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 105-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….