News 17:00

BULLETIN 27 May 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says no changes are planned for the mineral royalty system amid robust revenue gains
# Life Esidimeni families renew the call for prosecutions
# And cricket: Ricky Ponting says Punjab hasn’t achieved anything yet despite reaching the IPL playoffs

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa’s current mineral royalty system is effective and there are no plans to reform it. He told Parliament the royalty regime already reflects principles of resource rent tax, ensuring the country benefits when mining companies earn high profits. Ramaphosa says royalties rose from 14.2-billion- to 28.5-billion-rand during the 2020 to 2022 commodity boom and contributed significantly to national revenue:

# Advocacy group Section27 and families of the Life Esidimeni victims are calling on the National Prosecuting Authority to urgently prosecute former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and former mental health director Makgabo Manamela. An inquest found them criminally responsible for the deaths of some of the 144 mental health patients. The renewed call comes ahead of a National Mental Health review board meeting in Johannesburg this week. Section27’s Pearl Nicodemus says families have waited too long for justice and want regular updates from the NPA.

# The South African Social Security Agency, in collaboration with registered credit bureaus, has identified approximately 210-thousand social grant beneficiaries who appear to be receiving income that was not truthfully disclosed. SASSA’s spokesperson, Andile Tshona, says as part of this initiative, social grant payments for the affected beneficiaries will be delayed in the June payment cycle:

# Cricket: Punjab Kings’ head coach, Ricky Ponting, told his players to stay grounded despite reaching the playoffs of the Indian Premier League for the first time in 11 years. The team is assured of a top-two finish and will play in the first qualifier on Thursday against Royal Challengers Bengaluru or Gujarat Titans, depending on the outcome of today’s final league match between RCB and Lucknow Super Giants. Ponting says although he is delighted, they haven’t achieved anything yet.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-86-cents and the euro at 20-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-23-cents and Bitcoin trades at 110-thousand-527-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-298-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-43-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A teenager has died in New Zealand after taking part in a rugby-inspired craze that sees participants sprint into each other head-on with no protective gear. Fuelled by social media and sometimes playing out in front of large crowds, the “run-it-straight” challenge has swept across New Zealand and Australia. Organised competitions offer thousands of dollars in prize money but the trend has ignited fears of concussion and other serious injuries. The 19-year-old died in New Zealand’s North Island after playing the game with friends.

Stay tuned for more news………….