News 18:00

BULLETIN 13 November 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IEC receives more than one-thousand-700 complaints over local government election results
# The EFF and ALPA fail in their bid to overturn the decision on the Phala Phala evidence leader
# And, AfriForum welcomes the bail abandonment in the Donovan Marx case

# The Electoral Commission says it has received more than one-thousand-700 objections following the 4 November local government elections. However, only 433 qualified as formal objections under the law. The IEC has finalised 252 of these, upholding three and rejecting 249. IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya says the objections mainly relate to alleged counting irregularities, errors in capturing results, special votes and a high number of spoilt ballots:

# The High Court in the Western Cape has ruled against the EFF and the African Legal Practitioners Association in their bid to overturn the removal of advocate Griffiths Madonsela as evidence leader in Parliament’s Phala Phala impeachment inquiry. Madonsela was removed after concerns were raised about a possible conflict of interest, following his previous legal advice on the matter for the ANC. Judge Chantel Fortuin ruled that the impeachment committee’s decision to remove him remains in place: 

# AfriForum has welcomed the decision by the four accused in the attack on North West farmer Donovan Marx to abandon their bail applications in the Ventersdorp Magistrate’s Court. They face attempted murder, robbery and firearm-related charges. The case has been postponed to 15 February next year for the state to obtain ballistic reports. Marx was shot, stabbed and both ears cut off during an October attack. AfriForum’s Jacques Broodryk has called for justice:

# Several African beauty queens risk missing the Miss Universe competition in Puerto Rico because of US visa restrictions. Zimbabwe’s representative, 34-year-old Roseanna Hall, is stranded in South Africa while efforts continue to secure her travel documents. Zambia has already withdrawn its contestant, Pamela Mubanga, because of the restrictions. South Sudan’s representative has also expressed uncertainty about participating. The US measures, introduced in January, partially restrict visa access for citizens of 19 countries, including Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Miss Universe final is scheduled in San Juan for November 24.

# Cricket: Australia beat England by seven wickets in the first one-day international in Perth, after debutant Mahli Beardman tore through the visitors’ batting line-up. The 21-year-old fast bowler took six wickets for 24 runs, helping dismiss England for just 131 in their 34th over. It was the best bowling performance by an Australian on ODI debut. Mitchell Marsh then led the run chase with a blistering 50 off 30 balls, as Australia reached the target in their 24th over. The three-match series continues in Adelaide on Sunday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-97-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-46-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-361-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-883-dollars-31-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 99-dollars-17-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….