News 14:00

BULLETIN 24 May 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA urges a swift resolution of the Home Affairs ID collection technical issue  
# Police minister Bheki Cele opens the NATJOINTS Coordination Centre 
# And soccer: The Maradona family tries to block the sale of his Golden Ball trophy

# The DA has called on Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi to urgently resolve the technical issue causing system offline errors during ID collection attempts. The DA’s national spokesperson for Home Affairs, Adrian Roos, says there has been no updates from the department on social media or their website. Roos stresses the importance of regular communication and swift resolution, especially with the general elections starting on Monday, to ensure citizens can collect their IDs and vote.

# 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:

# The Freedom Front Plus has lodged a complaint on behalf of a Unisa employee with the Public Protector, due to ongoing irregularities at the institution. This specific case relates to an apparent unlawful appointment. The appointment in question revolves around an employee who had retired, but was subsequently rehired on a twelve-month term contract. Wynand Boshoff of the FF Plus says they sent written questions about the matter to the minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande:

# Soccer: Argentinian 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-93-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-40-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-359-dollars-7-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-341-dollars-23-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-68-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Avengers and Thor star Chris Hemsworth has received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Australian is the two-thousand-781st person to receive a star. Of the six Marvel and Global Avengers franchise films,  Avengers: Endgame remains among the highest-grossing movies ever. Hemsworth’s Avengers co-star Robert Downey Junior describes him as insightful, brilliant, and remarkable. Hemsworth says getting the star is a dream:

Stay tuned for more news………….