News 16:00

BULLETIN 17 May 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The George building rescue and recovery operation is concluded 
# Record-breaking political donations exceed the 100-million-rand mark 
# And soccer: Manchester City is on the brink of a record fourth successive Premiership title 

# The rescue and recovery operation at the collapsed building under construction in George has concluded. Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs, and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, says the operation involved over one-thousand workers and lasted 260-hours. More than six-thousand tons of rubble were removed. The number of people on site was revised down to 62. Bredell confirmed 33 deaths and 34 rescues of which five died later, while ten patients are still in hospital. He says an update on the investigation will be provided in due course.

# The Electoral Commission’s report on donations reveals a record-breaking fourth quarter, surpassing 172-million-rand. Major contributions include Patrice Motsepe’s companies, African Rainbow Minerals and Harmony Gold, which donated 6.9-million-rand to the ANC, more than 5-million-rand in total to the DA and 2.6-million-rand combined to the EFF. The official opposition also received ten-million-rand each from Main Street 1-5-6-4 and Jonathan Oppenheimer. Naspers donated two-million-rand each to the ANC and the DA. Change Starts Now bowed out of the election, but still received close to 36-million-rand in donations.

# The Special Investigating Unit and the 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.

# ActionSA says it is dismayed that Mineral Resources and Energy minister Gwede Mantashe has given the go-ahead for Vantage Goldfields to reopen Lily Mine in Mpumalanga. The mine is where the bodies of three mineworkers remain trapped underground, after a shipping container they were working in collapsed and fell into a sinkhole in 2016. ActionSA president, Herman Mashaba, says they remain resolute in their commitment to help retrieve the bodies of the three miners:

# Soccer: The English Premier League will be decided on the last day of the season on Sunday. All ten remaining matches will start at the same time, but the focus will be on Arsenal and Manchester City. City is on the brink of a record fourth successive English top-flight title. They are two points clear of Arsenal, and manager Pep Guardiola knows victory over West Ham will guarantee them the Premier League title:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-26-cents and the euro at 19-rand-80-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-11-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-288-dollars-8-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-839-dollars-1-cent a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-25-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….