News 16:00

BULLETIN 13 April 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Prosecutions in the Life Esidimeni deaths follow after years of delays
# The Judicial Service Commission interviews candidates to fill key court vacancies
# And golf: Schwartzel still earns 850-thousand-rand despite ending last in the US Masters

# The National Prosecuting Authority has confirmed it will prosecute those implicated in the Life Esidimeni tragedy, nearly a decade after at the death of at least 141 psychiatric patients. They died after being moved from proper care facilities to unregistered non-governmental organisations between 2015 and 2016. NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana says the decision follows findings from an inquest, which concluded several deaths were caused by negligence and systemic failures within the Gauteng Department of Health.

# The Judicial Service Commission is conducting interviews in Johannesburg from today to Friday to fill 15 vacancies in superior courts. Thirty-one candidates are being assessed for roles in the Supreme Court of Appeal, Land Court and key leadership positions. A major focus is the Gauteng High Court Judge President post as Deputy Judge president Aubrey Ledwaba will be interviewed for the position tomorrow. Judges Matter says the process aims to address judicial shortages contributing to delays in judgments.

# Forum for South Africa says the Border Management Authority’s Easter border operations report is misleading and out of touch with reality. It says enhanced border enforcement measures led to a 24-percent decline in illegal crossings. Four-thousand-763 travellers were intercepted while attempting to enter or exit South Africa illegally. FOSA leader, Tebogo Mashilompane, says high-risk ports such as Beitbridge, Lebombo, and Maseru Bridge continued to record massive spikes in movement:

# Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Willie Aucamp, has urged all stakeholders to support ongoing efforts to combat the illegal exploitation of South Africa’s marine resources. This follows the arrest of nine suspects for attempting to harvest marine resources within the Robben Island marine protected area in Cape Town. Aucamp says his department collaborates with relevant authorities to strengthen enforcement operations and ensure the protection and sustainability of the country’s marine biodiversity:

# Golf: The only South African to survive the first two rounds of the weekend’s US Masters, Charl Schwartzel, didn’t leave Augusta empty-handed despite ending last after the final round. He carded 12-under par – 24 shots behind champion Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland. Forty-one-year-old Schwartzel, who won the tournament in 2011, still won prize money of 850-thousand-rand, while McIlroy bagged over 74-million-rand. The only other two South Africans who teed off on Thursday, Aldrich Potgieter and Casey Jarvis, failed to make the halfway cut.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-57-cents and the euro at 19-rand-37-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-25-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-940-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-707-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 98-dollars-88-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….