News 18:00

BULLETIN 29 September 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Julius Malema is granted leave to appeal his five-year prison sentence
# RISE Mzansi’s Lukhona Mnguni warns of strain on South Africa’s governance
# And, tonight’s PowerBall and PowerBall extra jackpots total 101-million-rand

# EFF leader Julius Malema has been granted leave to appeal his firearm convictions and five-year prison sentence. The Makhanda High Court in the Eastern Cape ruled that there are sufficient grounds for the appeal, which will be heard by a full bench. Malema was convicted over the firing of a rifle during the EFF’s fifth anniversary celebrations in Mdantsane in 2018. He was sentenced to five years in prison in April but has not started serving the sentence while the appeal process continues.

# RISE Mzansi Johannesburg mayoral candidate Lukhona Mnguni says South Africa’s future is at risk as tensions grow between national, provincial and local governments. Speaking at UNISA, Mnguni said the country needs an honest renegotiation of its social contract. Mnguni raised concerns over calls to amend the Constitution and restore the death penalty, saying research does not show it necessarily deters violence. He also called for stronger cooperation between government spheres and questioned whether the provincial sphere remains effective:

# South Korea says North Korean mines caused an explosion in the Demilitarized Zone that injured three South Korean soldiers last week. Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul says the incident was a clear violation of the armistice that ended the Korean War. A joint South Korean and United Nations Command investigation found another North Korean mine near the blast site. The blast comes as President Lee Jae Myung seeks to draw the North back to dialogue, after Pyongyang declared the South an enemy state and abandoned its goal of peaceful reunification.

# Cricket: Proteas coach Shukri Conrad believes explosive young batter Dewald Brevis is better suited for the limited-over format. That is the reason he wasn’t included in the preliminary squad for next month’s Test series against Australia, and will also not play any Tests this summer. Conrad compares the 23-year-old with former Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, regarded by many as a claycourt specialist, saying Brevis is rather a white-ball specialist. But he thinks he would probably do good in Tests on the Asian subcontinent.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-43-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-64-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-863-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-165-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 100-dollars-64-cents a barrel.

# And finally, the PowerBall and PowerBall extra draws tonight have a combined estimated jackpot of 101-million-rand. The PowerBall jackpot is 80-million-rand, while PowerBall extra stands at 21-million-rand. The draw is scheduled for just after 9 pm. An analysis of previous draws shows number 13 has been the most frequently drawn main number since June 2018, appearing 106 times. The biggest PowerBall jackpot to date was 232-million-rand, won by a single ticket in Cape Town in 2019.

Stay tuned for more news………….