News 09:00

BULLETIN 1 March 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Change Starts Now pulls out of contesting the 2024 elections
# The Free Market Foundation wants South Africa’s crime crisis at the centre of the national agenda
# And rugby, the Blitzboks coach believes they are good enough to win tournaments 

# Newly-formed Change Starts Now party has decided not to contest the general elections, a week after launching its manifesto. Leader, Rodger Jardine, says the recent Constitutional Court ruling and the barriers it imposes, means newly established political parties face a prejudicial logistical timetable to qualify for the May 29th ballot. The ConCourt declined to hear a challenge to the Electoral Amendment Act’s provision for the amount of signatures new parties need to register for the elections. Jardine says they will support political parties that share the same values and aspirations.

# The Free Market Foundation says it aims to place the country’s violent crime crisis at the centre of the national agenda in the run-up to the May 29 elections. The foundation and its rule-of-law project recently launched the Section 12 initiative. The foundation’s, Zakhele Mthembu, says the initiative is aimed at making South Africa safer, by helping police focus on real crime:

# The Cape Winelands District Municipality in the Western Cape says firefighters have managed to contain two of the three active fire lines in the Du Toits Kloof fire. The blaze started on Wednesday afternoon and quickly spread. The municipality’s spokesperson, Anesca Roodt, says firefighters made great progress throughout the night as a result of cooler temperatures:

# The Cuban government’s request for help from the World Food Programme is seen as a sign of the Communist-run country’s worsening economic crisis. The organisation announced it had received an unprecedented official request from the Caribbean island to provide milk to young children. BBC News reports the programme has already started the delivery of milk powder. The Cuban government blames the United States sanctions for the economic crisis, but critics ascribe it to mismanagement.

# Rugby: Blitzboks head coach Sandile Ngcobo believes his charges will be able to turn things around in the weekend’s World Sevens Series tournament in Los Angeles in the US. South Africa is in sixth place on the log after disappointing results in the past three events following their clinching of the Dubai title in the first tournament of the season. They face log leaders Argentina, Ireland, and Spain in LA. Ngcobo is adamant the Blitzboks are good enough to win tournaments:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-15-cents and the euro at 20-rand-72-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-19-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-314-dollars-83-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-46-dollars-9-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-16-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….