News 12:00

BULLETIN 5 March 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A Parliamentary meeting may reveal details surrounding the SAA sale
# An analyst believes the most likely post-2024 poll scenario would be an ANC-IFP national coalition
# And the World Anti-Doping Agency suspends SA’s doping control laboratory in Bloemfontein 

# Details surrounding the sale of South African Airways to the Takatso Consortium, which Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan reportedly strives to keep secret, may emerge in a parliamentary portfolio committee meeting tomorrow. Pending legal advice and the assessment of the documents provided, the meeting’s classification as closed or open will be determined. A 51-percent stake in SAA was awarded to Takatso only six weeks after the airline emerged from business rescue. Takatso pledged a three-billion-rand investment, but doubts linger as the opposition questions an equity injection versus working capital.

# An analyst says in the scenario of the ANC getting less than 45-percent of the votes, a coalition with the IFP alongside some smaller parties would carry the ruling party into government. Krutham analyst, Peter Attard Montalto, has the ANC obtaining 43.6-percent of the vote nationally, with KwaZulu-Natal emerging as central to the 29th of May elections. He says a post-election National Assembly would see a handful of seats for the Patriotic Alliance and seven or eight seats for Rise Mzansi.  

# The South African Oil and Gas Alliance is calling on government to not delay developing a functional gas economy. The current main source of supply, two gas fields in Mozambique operated by Sasol, will not supply South African clients from mid-2026. This puts 70-thousand jobs at risk in businesses that rely on gas as a key input, generating 500-billion-rand a year for the economy. The alliance’s Adrian Strydom says the knock-on impact of gas shortages would be acutely felt by consumers:

# Western Cape MEC of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen, says the first payout of three-thousand-rand for reporting an illegal firearm was made last month. The recipient reported an illegal firearm to the Gansbaai police station in December. Allen says the tipoff resulted in the confiscation of a point-3-8 revolver and ammunition and a suspect was arrested. He says should there be a conviction in this matter, the beneficiary will receive a further two-thousand-rand:

# The World Anti-Doping Agency has suspended the South African Doping Control Laboratory in Bloemfontein for a period of up to six months. This is due to the facility’s multiple non-conformities with the International Standard for Laboratories. The agency says the suspension prohibits the laboratory from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including analyses of urine and blood samples, except analysis related to the Athlete Biological Passport hematological module. The facility is Africa’s only accredited drug-testing laboratory.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-4-cents and the euro at 20-rand-66-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-13-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-518-dollars-85-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-123-dollars-7-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-and-62-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….