News 17:00

BULLETIN 21 May 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# An activist says the ANC collapsed because it broke away from its liberation movement character
# Justice Mandisa Maya says she’s more confident than ever for the Chief Justice role
# And tennis: The French Open singles champions get cheques for 47.3-million-rand each 

# Political activist Raymond Suttner believes the ANC’s collapse is due to the party breaking away from its liberation movement character. Unpacking his recent column, he said the ANC, once a liberation movement with a significant popular base, transformed into a conventional political party, distancing itself from its grassroots. Suttner says the ruling party has been Influenced by Western advisers, and therefore shifted towards a model that gives preference to modernisation and normalisation, leading to a gap between the leadership and the people:

Meanwhile, the African Congress for Transformation’s leader, Ace Magashule, has dismissed claims that his party won’t contest the national and provincial elections. Despite challenging the IEC’s online nomination system in court, Magashule affirmed during the party manifesto launch in Sebokeng that the ACT will compete in several provinces. This includes the Free State, which they are confident of winning. Magashule says the party is willing to work with like-minded coalitions:

# Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya says she’s more confident than ever for the role of Chief Justice. The sole candidate is being interviewed by the Judicial Service Commission. Maya believes the Constitutional Court should expand from eleven to 15 justices. She calls for constitutional amendments to allow smaller panels of justices. Maya admits the Chief Justice role is hard, but believes she can do the job:

# China has complained to the United States over secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulating self-ruled Taiwan’s newly inaugurated president, Lai Ching-te. Lai, who Beijing has branded as a dangerous separatist in the past, was sworn in yesterday. In his congratulations message, Blinken says he looked forward to Washington and Taipei maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Beijing said his message seriously violates the One China principle and sends a wrong signal to separatist forces.

# Tennis: The total prize money for this year’s French Open is 1.05-billion-rand – an increase of 7.8-percent from last year. The men’s and women’s singles champions receive 47.3-million-rand each. Even players being eliminated in the first round at Roland Garros won’t go home empty-handed, receiving 1.4-million-rand each. The qualifiers are being played in Paris at the moment, while the main draw starts on Sunday. The winners will be crowned on Court Philippe-Chatrier on 8 and 9 July. The seeds and draws will be announced later this week.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-12-cents and the euro at 19-rand-68-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-3-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-996-dollars-54-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-428-dollars-40-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-67-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….