News 15:00

BULLETIN 6 June 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA exits the Multi-Party Charter due to pact violations 
# SAAI sues the police for damages suffered by a Limpopo farmer due to illegal trespassers 
# And Olympics: A TUT star athlete races her way to the Paris Games

# ActionSA has exited the Multi-Party Charter, formerly known as the Moonshot Pact, due to violations by other parties. Chairperson Michael Beaumont says several parties breached the agreement by choosing to work with the ANC. He confirmed ActionSA will not collaborate with the ANC, though others are free to make their own decisions. Beaumont announced that ActionSA is now focusing on what it can offer to improve governance rather than criticising other parties:

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission has distanced itself from the responsibility of removing election posters. The commission’s head in North West, Tumelontle Thiba, says the duration for hanging and removing election posters depends on each municipality’s bylaws. He adds it is only municipalities who are responsible for enforcing it and determining the penalties. The IEC says they have no control over the poster display agreements made with political parties or independent candidates.

# The Southern African Agri Initiative had a summons issued against the police to insist that a farmer, Solly Letsoala, be compensated for the damage caused by illegal trespassers on his farm in Limpopo. Saai’s Theo de Jager says in September last year, Letsoala lodged the complaint with police, but it did not result in any police action against the guilty parties. De Jager says the summons demands the police must take responsibility for more than seven-million-rand worth of damage:

# The World Health Organisation confirmed Mexico’s first fatal human case of H5N2 bird flu. The 59-year-old patient, with chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and hypertension, had no known animal exposure. The virus’s source remains unclear, despite recent outbreaks among poultry in Michoacan and the state of Mexico. The Mexican Health Ministry reported all samples from identified contacts tested negative.

# Olympics: Tshwane University of Technology’s second-year student, Zeney Geldenhuys, has qualified for the Games in Paris. Her record-breaking 54.72 seconds in the 400-metre hurdles at the South African senior track and field championships secured her spot. The Sports Management student recently won silver at the Diamond League event in Stockholm, Sweden. TUT vice chancellor Tinyiko Maluleke says Geldenhuys qualifying for the Olympics is a remarkable achievement.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-99-cents and the euro at 20-rand-64-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-26-cents and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-51-dollars-58-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-361-dollars-27-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….