News 14:00

BULLETIN 31 May 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA leader labels the election handling to a dog’s breakfast
# Government abandons plans to extend the driving licence’s validity
# And rugby: Cape Town Stadium is ready to host the Stormers against the Lions  

# The DA has strongly criticised the Electoral Commission for its handling of the elections. Addressing the media at the results centre in Midrand, DA leader John Steenhuisen condemned the long queues and inefficiencies, citing broken promises to improve since the 2021 local government elections which cost the party Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape. Steenhuisen pledged to hold the IEC accountable to prevent a repeat of these issues in the next local government elections:

Meanwhile, the EFF says the crashing of the dashboard highlights the incompetence and inability of the IEC to safeguard the democracy. The EFF’s spokesperson, Sixolise Gcilishe, says this incompetence was first witnessed on voting day, where the voter management devices were not fully functional in many voting stations across the country. Gcilishe says the crash of the results dashboard for such a historical election is concerning and warrants a thorough investigation to ensure transparency and integrity in the electoral process.

Preliminary results from the Electoral Commission a short time ago showed the ANC was leading with 41.86-percent after 63.71-percent of the votes were processed. The DA followed with 22.88-percent while the MK Party was on 11.8-percent. The EFF and the IFP are among the top five nationally, with 9.5- and 2.92-percent respectively.

# The validity period of driver’s licences in South Africa will remain unchanged at five years for the foreseeable future. This comes despite previous indications by former Transport minister Fikile Mbalula and current minister Sindisiwe Chikunga that the validity could be extended to eight or ten years. In an exclusive interview, Chikunga confirmed the proposal to extend the validity to eight years was not presented to Cabinet for approval as earlier stated.

# Rugby: The City of Cape Town says the Cape Town Stadium is ready to host a double-header tomorrow. The early kick-off will see the SA Rugby Under-21 Cup clash between Western Province and Cheetahs. This will be followed by the Stormers’ final United Rugby Championship group game against the Lions. Mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says about 40-thousand people are expected to attend the local derby with potential playoff-deciding implications:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-75-cents and the euro at 20-rand-34-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-127-dollars-34-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-343-dollars-43-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-90-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….