News 18:00

BULLETIN 2 May 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Jacob Zuma faces an ANC disciplinary hearing over his MK Party affiliation
# The Senzo Meyiwa murder trial is postponed for two weeks
# And boxing: The stage is set for the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 

# Former president Jacob Zuma has been summoned to appear before the ANC’s national disciplinary committee on Tuesday over his MK Party affiliation. He is charged with contravening the ANC’s constitution by endorsing and standing for the other party. Earlier indications from ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula suggested that Zuma had disqualified himself from ANC disciplinary processes by endorsing the new party. He was suspended in January. Zuma is entitled to be represented at the hearing by any ANC member in good standing.

Staying with election news, ActionSA welcomes a Press Council appeals committee ruling on Rapport’s anonymous elections poll. The ruling found the newspaper, News24, and City Press were wrong for withholding the poll’s conducting organisation’s identity, violating the Press Code. The party regards this as a significant triumph in its endeavors to oversee the polling industry. ActionSA’s Michael Beaumont expresses respect for the media outlets involved, stating their initial objection was made in the interest of maintaining transparency and upholding democratic principles: 

# The trial of five men accused of murdering former Bafana Bafana goalkeeper and captain Senzo Meyiwa has been postponed for two weeks in the High Court in Pretoria. He was shot and killed in a house on the Gauteng East Rand in October 2014. The defence accused the state of trying a trial by ambush after introducing new cell phone data. One of the defence lawyers, Zandile Mshololo, argues the state should provide the necessary records:

# Voters went to the polls in England today for a host of crunch local elections likely to ratchet up the pressure on embattled Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak. The mix of council, mayoral and other local contests as well as a parliamentary by-election, are the last major ballot box test before a general election likely later this year. Sunak’s ruling Tories, in power nationally since 2010 and defending hundreds of seats secured the last time these local elections were held in 2021, are tipped to suffer heavy losses.

# Boxing: There is a lot of excitement in the boxing world ahead of the big fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia on 18 May. It is a fight that is set to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999. Both men arrive undefeated as professionals. Ukraine’s 37-year-old Usyk is the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion. The 35-year-old Fury, from Britain, is the WBC champion and always full of confidence:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-68-cents and the euro at 19-rand-95-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-31-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-401-dollars-41-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-292-dollars-46-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-55-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….