News 17:00

BULLETIN 13 May 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA files Phala Phala charges at the Bela-Bela police station
# Cape Winelands disaster teams rescue families stranded by floods in Gouda
# And: The 2026 Nelson Mandela Legacy Sporting Series is launched

# ActionSA has laid criminal charges against president Cyril Ramaphosa at the Bela-Bela police station in Limpopo over the Phala Phala scandal. The charges include violations of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, as well as fraud and perjury linked to declarations about the amount of money stolen from Ramaphosa’s farm in the province in 2020. ActionSA’s Michael Beaumont says South Africans deserve full accountability and answers:

# The Cape Winelands District Municipality says rescue operations are underway for eight families trapped by flooding along the Kleinberg River in Gouda. The National Sea Rescue Institute, police, and local municipalities have reached the 49 stranded people after days of heavy rain and icy weather caused rivers to rise sharply. The municipality’s Jo-Anne Otto says although the worst of the storm has passed, clean-up operations and relief efforts are now priority:

# The South African Police Service uncovered a suspected drug laboratory on a farm near Koster in the North West, where drugs worth more than 100-million-rand were seized this morning. Police say the operation revealed sophisticated industrial machinery allegedly used to manufacture narcotics. Images released by authorities show what appears to be a large-scale production facility. The discovery comes as the Madlanga commission continues to examine the handling of narcotics-related cases by law enforcement agencies.

# The Princess of Wales has arrived in Italy on her first official overseas trip since her cancer treatment. Catherine is on a two-day solo working trip with the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, which she launched in 2021 to raise awareness of the importance of early childhood on later life outcomes. One of the most popular members of the royal family revealed over two years ago she had been diagnosed with cancer after undergoing major abdominal surgery. In January last year, she announced she was in remission.

# The Nelson Mandela Foundation has launched the 2026 Nelson Mandela Legacy Sporting Series to promote unity and social impact through sport. This includes the Nelson Mandela Marathon in Cape Town on October 18, featuring races ranging from 42- to five-kilometres. Other events include the Mandela Day Walk and Run in Johannesburg and Tshwane. Legacy Ride4Hope’s director of operations, Luthando Kaka, says the Mozambique-to-KwaZulu-Natal cycling campaign will raise funds for school infrastructure:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-47-cents against the rand and the euro at 19-rand-28-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-23-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-293-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-687-dollars-71-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 104-dollars-95-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….