News 15:00

BULLETIN 17 May 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The SIU and the Hawks raid South Africa’s refugee centres in a corruption probe
# Helen Zille is accused of plagiarising ANC symbols
# And rugby: Willemse, Dayimani and Harris will start for the Stormers in Ireland 

# The Special Investigating Unit and Hawks simultaneously raided all five of South Africa’s refugee centres. The search-and-seizure operations occured in Gqeberha, Pretoria, Musina, Durban and Cape Town. It is understood that the SIU is investigating corruption linked to the issuing of asylum and refugee papers to foreign nationals entering South Africa. At the Marabastad centre in Pretoria, over 60 Home Affairs officials are implicated in the investigation. All the centres fall under the Department of Home Affairs.

Meanwhile, Cosatu says the Public Procurement Bill will play a key role in tackling corruption and supporting local procurement and jobs. The federation says this is a massive step forward by government to cleanse and renew the state and spur the economy. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says currently there is not a single public procurement legislative framework and consequently the situation in many state institutions is open to abuse and corruption:

# The ANC has lodged a complaint with the Electoral Commission, accusing the DA’s federal council chairperson, Helen Zille, of violating the electoral code of conduct. The ANC alleges she posted a plagiarised ANC poster on social media with distorted slogans. They request an investigation into this alleged contravention. The party’s secretary general, Fikile Mbalula, urges adherence to the electoral code to ensure fair conduct in the upcoming national and provincial elections.

# Former Hamas hostage and Fair Planet founder Shoshan Haran has appealed to the United Nations Security Council to intervene in the release of hostages in the Gaza conflict. Speaking at an informal meeting in New York convened by the US, Haran urged for the release of 128 unaccounted hostages. Haran, held for 50 days, highlighted the urgent need for international action as her son-in-law is still held hostage:

# Rugby: Damian Willemse, Hacjivah Dayimani and Brok Harris all come into the Stormers’ starting line-up for the United Rugby Championship encounter with Connacht in Galway tomorrow night. The Stormers will be looking to make it back-to-back wins on the road when they take on the Irish side at 5-minutes-past-6. Willemse slots in at inside centre, with Dan du Plessis shifting to outside centre. There is also a positional switch for Evan Roos, who moves to openside flank, with Dayimani starting at the back of the scrum this week.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-28-cents and the euro at 19-rand-81-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-12-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-259-dollars-52-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-387-dollars-36-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-19-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….