News 16:00

BULLETIN 8 May 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Remains believed to be those of a missing journalist and his partner are found
# South Africa faces a looming natural gas shortage despite offshore discoveries
# And soccer: Donald Trump believes Russia’s participation in the World Cup could be an incentive to end the Ukrainian war

# Police have discovered remains believed to be those of Pretoria-based journalist Sibusiso Aserie Ndlovu and his partner Zodwa Precious Mdhluli, who vanished in February. National police commissioner Fannie Masemola says the remains were found in a bush on the border connecting Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Five suspects have been arrested in connection with the case, facing charges including kidnapping and hijacking. Masemola says DNA tests will confirm the identities:

# South Africa is bracing for a natural gas shortage starting next year, despite offshore discoveries between 2019 and ’20. The Petroleum Agency’s acting CEO, Bongani Sayidini, reports that the Brulpadda and the Luiperd fields off the Southern Cape coast have not yielded commercially viable quantities. Meanwhile, Wits Business School Advisory Board chairperson Priscillah Mabelane says Mozambique’s gas supply, currently vital to South Africa, is nearing depletion, with imports expected to halt by next year:

# The National Student Financial Aid Scheme has disbursed 1.3-billion-rand to private service providers for student accommodation so far this year in comparison to 2.9-billion-rand for the whole of last year. Acting CEO Waseem Carrim refers to improved verification processes and a shift towards accrediting more providers. Carrim confirmed that despite these efforts, challenges persist, including unverified student registrations and delayed payments to landlords. He announced NSFAS plans to return accommodation management to institutions by next year.

# Soccer: US president Donald Trump is in favour of Russia’s participation in next year’s World Cup in Northern America, believing it could be an incentive to end the war with Ukraine. He was sitting next to Fifa president Gianni Infantino at a meeting of his administration’s taskforce for the tournament, and was amazed when Infantino informed him Russia had been banned from international competition after the war started in February 2022. Infantino said he hoped peace will be achieved in time so Russia could be readmitted.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-14-cents and the euro at 20-rand-52-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-20-cents and Bitcoin trades at 99-thousand-511-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-351-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 61-dollars-98-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Western Cape MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport, Ricardo Mackenzie, has launched Afrikaans Amptelik 100, a year-long celebration marking a century since Afrikaans became an official language. The ceremony took place at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town. Mackenzie says the celebration honours the language’s roots in communities shaped by slavery and colonialism. He emphasised the event will amplify voices that have been marginalised:

Stay tuned for more news………….