News 17:00

BULLETIN 11 June 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa calls for the accelerated implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
# Members of Parliament demand answers over the missing Phala Phala couch
# And soccer: A cat, elephants and an octopus predict the winner of World Cup opening game

# Minister for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, has called on countries to accelerate the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She delivered South Africa’s country statement at the 19th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, at the United Nations headquarters in New York yesterday. Chikunga emphasised that government is making progress towards achieving a target of five-percent employment equity for persons with disabilities in the public service:

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Police has accused the police of covering up aspects of the investigation into the Phala Phala farm robbery. Members of Parliament questioned why Presidential Protection Service head Wally Rhoode was cleared in an internal police probe despite findings that he acted improperly. Committee members also demand answers about the missing couch linked to the theft of about ten-million-rand from president Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm in Limpopo, as it remains a key piece of evidence in the case.

# The DA is calling for urgent provincial intervention to address ongoing sewage pollution in Mogale City. DA environment spokesperson Leanne de Jager says failing wastewater infrastructure is threatening the Blougatspruit, Crocodile River and the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. She says that 12 of 14 sewage pump stations are non-functional, resulting in millions of litres of untreated effluent entering waterways daily and posing serious environmental and health risks:

# Soccer: DStv has added SportyTV to its Access, Family, Compact and Compact Plus packages on both satellite and streaming platforms at the start of the World Cup in Northern America. The 24-hour sports channel, available on Channel 236, focuses heavily on soccer. SportyTV recently secured rights to all tournament matches. Subscribers can also watch matches on SuperSport, while SportyTV offers a standalone streaming option from just ten-rand, expanding access for soccer fans.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-53-cents against the rand and the euro at 19-rand-5-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-6-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-849-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-75-dollars-49-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-41-cents a barrel.

# And finally, with the World Cup officially starting, fans everywhere are predicting the winners of the opening match between South Africa and Mexico, with even animals trying their paws, trunks and tentacles at it. The internet-famous cat “Nimbus the King” has confidently predicted a victory for Mexico, while two elephants at a zoo in Mexico also chose the hosts as the winners. Cape Town’s Two Oceans aquarium’s resident octopus, Cherry, showed little loyalty with a prediction that will be good news for those liking salsa with their calamari.

Stay tuned for more news………….