News 18:00

BULLETIN 26 April 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Jacob Zuma’s jail term was not a sentence under the Constitution
# Impala Platinum Holdings initiates a staff reduction consultation
# And Soccer: Mamelodi Sundowns are fighting to reach the final of the CAF Champions League

# The Electoral Court has given its reasons for ruling that former president Jacob Zuma qualifies to be a candidate in the election. It ruled Zuma’s 15-month jail term for contempt of court is not a sentence under the Constitution. This decision is based on the constitutional provision disqualifying individuals convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12-months’ imprisonment from serving, but only after the appeal process is exhausted or the time for an appeal has expired. The Electoral Commission is seeking to appeal this ruling at the Constitutional Court.

Meanwhile, the DA leader John Steenhuisen has challenged president Cyril Ramaphosa to a pre-election debate, following the unveiling of the party’s new economic policy in Johannesburg. Steenhuisen believes honest conversations and debates about the country’s economy and job creation as essential. He expressed confidence in the DA’s policy and readiness to discuss these issues with Ramaphosa:

# Impala Platinum announced the initiation of a staff reduction consultation process at its South African operations that could affect almost 4-thousand jobs. CEO Nico Muller cites plummeting platinum group metal prices and persistent inflationary pressures as key factors affecting profitability. Despite prior cost-saving efforts, financial challenges persist, necessitating measures to optimise operational efficiencies. The future job security of the entire workforce remains uncertain amidst global economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions.

# The European Union has announced it was giving an extra 1.4-billion-rand to provide desperately needed aid to Palestinians in Gaza. The territory has been devastated by more than six months of Israeli bombardment and ground operations after Hamas’s October 7 attack, leaving the civilian population of two million people in need of humanitarian assistance to survive.

Soccer: Mamelodi Sundowns will tonight try to reach the final of the CAF Champions League for a third time. They will host Esperance at Loftus Versfeld in the return leg of their semifinal clash. The Tunisians won the first leg one-nil and they have reached the final eight times, winning the tournament on four occasions. Sundowns was crowned African champions in 2016 and coach Rhulani Mokwena hopes to repeat that success:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-77-cents and the euro at 20-rand-8-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-44-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-613-dollars-26-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-341-dollars-29-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-96-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….