News 18:00

BULLETIN 19 May 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Phala Phala theft case is postponed to September
# South Africa’s Rayno Nel is crowned the 2025 World’s Strongest Man
# And French police recover the long-lost bust of Jim Morrison of The Doors

# The trial of three accused linked to president Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala game farm theft in Limpopo, has been postponed to 15 September and is set to run until 8 October. Imanuwela David, Froliana Joseph, and Ndilinasho Joseph appeared in the Modimolle Regional Court where the trial was delayed due to Froliana’s medical condition. She is heavily pregnant. The National Prosecuting Authority’s Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi says the trio face charges including housebreaking, and money laundering:

# The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters is urging government to avoid a blanket ban on poultry imports from Brazil after a bird flu outbreak in Rio Grande do Sul. Brazil supplies over 84-percent of South Africa’s poultry imports. The association recommends a regionalised approach, already adopted by countries like Japan and the United Arab Emirates, to avoid price hikes, job losses, and food insecurity. CEO Imameleng Mothebe warns a full ban could harm vulnerable communities.

# AfriForum welcomes the SABC’s decision to move Afrikaans TV news back to an earlier time slot on SABC2 from July, only after public backlash over the original schedule changes. They believe the move confirms the power of public pressure and campaigns. However, the organisation warns the damage to viewers and advertisers may be hard to undo. AfriForum’s Alana Bailey has vowed to monitor whether the broadcaster follows through on its promises to improve Afrikaans programming:

# On to sports news: South African rookie Rayno Nel made history in Sacramento, clinching the 2025 World’s Strongest Man title and becoming the first African and first debutant since 1997 to win. The former rugby player built an early lead but held firm through the gruelling Flintstone Barbell and Atlas Stones finals. The two-time South African Strongest Man showcased Africa’s strength in this sport on the global stage, by beating defending champion, Britain’s Tom Stoltman, by just half a point, while Canadian Mitchell Hooper had to settle for third place overall.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-5-cents and the euro at 20-rand-29-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-11-cents and Bitcoin trades at 103-thousand-361-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-232-dollars-95-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

# And finally: French police have recovered by chance the long-lost bust of American singer Jim Morrison that once adorned the grave of the iconic frontman of The Doors, 37 years after it was stolen from a Paris cemetery. The sculpture, missing since 1988, was found during a search tied to a fraud case led by the Paris public prosecutor’s office. Nostalgic rock fans still flock to Morrison’s grave at a Paris cemetery where he was buried after his death in the French capital in 1971 at the age of 27.

Stay tuned for more news………….