News 17:00

BULLETIN 6 May 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Hendrik Flynn outlines the forensic request process in drug busts at the Madlanga Commission
# A rare Andes strain of the hantavirus caused the death of a Dutch couple
# And: A woman is killed by a falling tree amid severe weather conditions in Knysna

# The Hawks’ Head of Serious Organised Crime Investigations Hendrik Flynn has told the Madlanga Commission that mechanisms exist to prioritise forensic analysis. Addressing a probe into the 2021 disappearance of cocaine worth about 200-million-rand from a Hawks facility in Port Shepstone, Flynn said there is no strict requirement for written requests to the Forensic Science Laboratory, though it is preferable. He emphasised bulk drug seizures must be treated as urgent investigations:

# Two Dutch nationals who died from the hantavirus are suspected to have contracted the rare Andes strain. The man died at see while his wife died in a Gauteng hospital last weekend. During a briefing to Parliament’s portfolio committee on Health, minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the Andes is the only one of 38 known strains known to spread between humans, though only through very close contact. He stresses the virus is far less transmissible than Covid-19. The couple were passengers on the cruise ship MV Hondius with 147 people on board.

Meanwhile, the African Peoples Convention has expressed concern about the Hantavirus after the case on the cruise ship necessitated medical evacuation to a Johannesburg hospital. Three passengers who were aboard the cruise ship have died. APC’s spokesperson, Lucas Mphaka, says the Department of Health must ensure that the Hantavirus does not spread in the country:

# Disaster management in the Garden Route in the Western Cape has confirmed a 37-year-old woman has died after a tree fell on top of a parked vehicle in Knysna. Police say her body was retrieved from the car and a portion of the road was closed for mopping up. Disaster management head Gerhard Otto has warned people not to park under big trees as the high-speed winds can be dangerous. The South African Weather Service earlier issued an Orange Level Eight warning for the Garden Route.  

# Tennis: The Professional Tennis Players’ Association warns the sport will be stuck in cycles of disputes without reform. Leading players demand a bigger prize pot in the French Open, starting in Paris later this month, with the world’s best female player, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, eveng touting a possible boycott of the event which purse is significant smaller than those of the other Grand Slam tournaments. The association says the row shows precisely why it is challenging the way tennis is run.  

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-44-cents against the rand and the euro at 19-rand-33-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-38-cents and Bitcoin trades at 82-thousand-101-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-679-dollars-70-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 102-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….