News 17:00

BULLETIN 1 June 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister John Steenhuisen announces a public-private biosecurity partnership plan to strengthen disease control
# Witness D’s family welcomes the bail denial for his alleged murderer
# And: America and Iran exchanged fire again amidst fears that the shaky ceasefire could collapse

# Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen says a new public-private biosecurity model will be introduced to strengthen long-term control of foot-and-mouth disease. Steenhuisen states the government has made major progress in its fight against the disease, with 13.5-million vaccine doses procured and nearly 4.4-million animals already vaccinated. He added more vaccine doses have arrived and additional supply is expected, supported by regulatory approvals to speed up the rollout:

# The family of murdered whistleblower witness Marius van der Merwe, known as Witness D at the Madlanga Commission, has welcomed the bail denial of murder accused Matipandile Sotheni. The Brakpan Magistrate’s Court cited concerns of Sotheni as a flight risk and potential threats to witnesses. Van der Merwe was killed outside his Brakpan home in December 2025. His sister, Natasha van der Merwe, described the ruling as a small victory:

# The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department arrested 161 motorists for driving under the influence of alcohol during a week-long road safety crackdown conducted between 25 and 31 May. Spokesperson Xolani Fihla says the arrests follow strategic roadblocks and roving stop-and-search operations across Johannesburg. He says the figures highlight the dangers of drunk driving and warns that offenders will continue to face arrest. He adds they will maintain intensified operations throughout the winter months:

# The US military says it conducted “self-defence strikes” on Iranian radar and drone sites in the city of Goruk and the island of Qeshm over the weekend. The US Central Command says the attack was in response to aggressive Iranian actions. In retaliation, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted an American air base allegedly used to launch an attack on a telecommunications tower on Iran’s Sirik Island. This latest exchange of fire marks the third major violation of a ceasefire that was agreed by both sides in April.

# Soccer: Mexico’s goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa, is set to join superstars Lionel Messi from Argentina and Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo in playing in their sixth World Cup. Forty-year-old Ochoa was named in the squad of the co-hosts who are due to kick off the global showpiece against South Africa on the 11th. He made his first appearance in Germany in 2006, and also played in the next tournaments in South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar. Mexico also faces South Korea and the Czech Republic in Group A.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-24-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-91-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-942-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-501-dollars-14-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-78-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….