News 15:00

BULLETIN 23 May 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Constitutional Court rejects Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s appeal over a 10-million-rand gratuity
# The Police minister announces new forensic labs to tackle backlogs
# And more cinema figures sign an open letter denouncing the alleged genocide in Gaza

# The Constitutional Court has dismissed former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s attempt to appeal directly to it over her denied ten-million-rand gratuity. According to News24, Mkhwebane claimed she was suffering due to the delay in payment, but the court found no grounds for direct appeal. Chief Justice Mandisa Maya and the court’s other justices unanimously rejected the application with no costs awarded. Mkhwebane argued it was in the interests of justice for the apex court to hear her appeal.

# Police minister Senzo Mchunu says new forensic labs will be built in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Free State to help speed up DNA testing and reduce toxicology backlogs. Mchunu told the media these new facilities will boost the capacity of the South African Police Service to process evidence faster, improve the justice system and fight crime more effectively:

# French actress Catherine Deneuve has joined over 900 celebrities who have signed an open letter denouncing the alleged genocide in Gaza. The petition began circulating during the buildup to the Cannes film festival. Other signatories include “Schindler’s List” star Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Jonathan Glazer, “Lupin” star Omar Sy, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Pedro Almodovar and Mark Ruffalo. The initiative, called “Artists for Fatem”, was sparked by the killing of Palestinian photojournalist Fatima “Fatem” Hassouna, who was the subject of a documentary that premiered at Cannes.

# Tennis: The top-two players in the world, Jannik Sinner of Italy and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, will become the youngest top-seeds in a Grand Slam tournament in almost two decades when the French Open starts in Paris on Sunday. Swiss maestro Roger Federer was 25 and Alcaraz’s compatriot, Rafael Nadal, 20 when they were the number one and two seeds in the US Open in 2006. Sinner is 23 and Alcaraz 22. Their seedings mean they won’t meet each other at Roland Garros before the final.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-88-cents and the euro at 20-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-16-cents and Bitcoin trades at 110-thousand-751-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-327-dollars-86-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Former President Thabo Mbeki is in Tanzania for the annual Africa Day Lecture in Dar es Salaam this weekend. The event marks Africa Day and honours fallen freedom fighters. This year’s lecture focuses on Africa’s self-determination and the blue economy as critical to the continent’s future. Mbeki visited the Garden of Remembrance in Morogoro and paid homage to the pioneer journalist, translator and hymn composer, Tiyo Soga:

Stay tuned for more news………….