News 18:00

BULLETIN 10 April 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# An expert doubts there’s time to finalise a potential appeal in the Zuma case before the elections
# An election poll indicates political uncertainty
# And, Netball SA announces a fully-fledged professional league

# A legal expert doubts whether there will be time to finalise a potential appeal against the Electoral Court’s decision in the Jacob Zuma case before the elections. Llewelyn Curlewis reacted to the court’s decision to set aside the Electoral Commission’s disqualification of the former president from the elections because of his criminal record. The IEC plans to request the reasons before deciding on the way forward. Curlewis says the matter is probably not so urgent that higher courts would set aside other cases to handle this.

In another development the Social Research Foundation has revealed declining support for the ruling ANC just six weeks before the 29 May election. News24 reports the poll suggests the MK Party, backed by Zuma, may become the country’s third-largest. The foundation polled one-thousand-835 registered voters this month. The ANC’s support is predicted to be around 37-percent, with the DA at 25-percent. The MK party could receive 13-percent and the EFF 11-percent. The ruling party may need to go into a coalition with a big party to maintain control. 

# Italian rescuers don’t believe they will find more survivors after yesterday’s explosion at a hydro-electric power plant near Bologna in the north of the country. Three bodies were found after the underwater blast on the artificial lake Suviana, while five people were seriously injured. BBC News reports a fire apparently broke out when a turbine exploded on the eighth level below the surface. Police say an investigation into the cause of the tragedy will start as soon as the plant is declared safe.

# Netball South Africa’s president, Cecilia Molokwane, has announced the implementation of a professional league next year. The league will consist of 15 teams from all the provinces, playing in two divisions, with matches held at Ellis Park Arena. The semi-professional league, initiated in 2014, saw only three teams win since inception: Jaguars six times, Crinums thrice, and Golden Fireballs once. Molokwane also confirmed the 2024 Netball League will launch tomorrow:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-76-cents and the euro at 20-rand-18-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-59-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-149-dollars-72-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-340-dollars-81-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 89-dollars-69-cents a barrel.

# And finally, Higher Education, Science, and Innovation minister Blade Nzimande has expressed support for the establishment of a Chris Hani Museum. Nzimande says Hani was a key figure in South Africa’s democracy and deserves such recognition. He intends to bring the request for a museum to president Cyril Ramaphosa. The South African Communist Party commemorated the 31st anniversary of Hani’s assassination in Ekurhuleni today. Nzimande believes Hani would be pleased with the progress made by the democratic government if he were alive today:

Stay tuned for more news………….