News 15:00

BULLETIN 12 May 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Timothy Omotoso challenges a Home Affairs ban in an urgent High Court bid
# The woman who was granted bail for torching Kelly Smith’s home has no remorse
# And soccer: Orlando Pirates grants coach José Riveiro an early release from his contract

# Nigerian televangelist Timothy Omotoso has launched an urgent High Court application to review Home Affairs’ decision declaring him a prohibited person. This follows his acquittal on 32 charges, including rape and human trafficking, related to several young women linked to his Jesus Dominion International Church. Omotoso spent eight years in St Albans Prison. Last year, then acting judge Donovan Pitt set aside the initial ban, but Home Affairs confirmed that minister Leon Schreiber has rejected Omotoso’s latest appeal to overturn the decision.

# The Vredenburg Magistrate’s Court on the West Coast has granted 500-rand bail for a woman accused of torching Kelly Smith’s home in Middelpos, Saldanha Bay. Twenty-seven-year-old Monique Kekana was arrested in connection with the incident which occured after Smith and her co-accused were convicted of kidnapping and trafficking her six-year-old daughter, Joslin. Kekana returns to court on 25 June. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, she expressed no remorse, stating her actions were in pursuit of justice for Joslin:

# BOSA is calling for full transparency following the revelation that Gold Rush Consortium is the preferred bidder for the multi-billion-rand contract to operate South Africa’s national lottery. Spokesperson Roger Solomons says this follows the party’s submission of a Promotion of Access to Information Act application to obtain the names of the members of the adjudication panel. He says at least two members of the bid evaluation committee – Thiran Marimuthu and Anne-Marie Pooley – appear to have links to the consortium:

# An Israeli official says the military was preparing for the return of a US-Israeli hostage, 21-year-old Edan Alexander, who has been held in Gaza since October 2023. Hamas’s armed wing said it would release Alexander today. He is the last living hostage in Gaza with American citizenship. Alexander was deployed near Gaza’s perimeter for his military service when he was taken hostage from the military outpost where he was stationed during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

# Soccer: Orlando Pirates granted coach José Riveiro’s request for early release after signing for a new club. Tomorrow’s clash with Golden Arrows will be the Spaniard’s final match. Riveiro’s contract was originally running till next month. Premier Soccer League chairperson Irvin Khoza has praised Riveiro’s trophy-laden tenure, leaving behind a legacy of five major trophies since joining in 2022. Assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi steps in as interim coach, backed by analyst Rayaan Jacobs and the technical team.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-30-cents and the euro at 20-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-9-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-323-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-215-dollars-17-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-10-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….