News 06:00

BULLETIN 11 March 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IFP’s 13-point-plan election manifesto promises hope and renewal
# The suspension of load-shedding during the day continues
# And motorsport: Brad Binder finishes second in the season-opener in Qatar

# The Inkatha Freedom Party leader, Velenkosini Hlabisa, says the 29 May general elections are the most crucial since the dawn of democracy. The party launched its election manifesto at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium yesterday. He says the IFP’s 13-point plan manifesto offers hope and renewal for all. Hlabisa says the country is on the brink of becoming a failed state, and the IFP is ready to secure a better future for all South Africans:

Meanwhile, Hlabisa also says he is confident that if the party is voted into government, it can element load-shedding. He says the severity of the energy crisis in the country is a result of corruption, mismanagement, and a lack of a strategic vision to fix the problem:

# Remanining with load-shedding: Eskom says it will continue suspending load-shedding during the day, due to the recovery of emergency generation reserves, and the return of three generating units. Load-shedding is suspended from five in the morning until four in the afternoon, then stage two will be implemented. This pattern will continue until further notice. Eskom says it is also expecting the return of three-thousand-330 megawatts of generating capacity to service by Wednesday.

# Concerned parents of Theresapark Secondary School in northern Pretoria say the Gauteng Department of Education has assured them that learners will move into the new school today. It was established last year as an overflow school, however, since the start of this year the construction of the school has been incomplete. This has resulted in learners being educated in container classrooms twice a week on rotation. Parents task team’s, Thabo Qoako, says they will assess the school today:

# Ghana’s Finance Ministry has advised president Nana Akufo-Addo against endorsing a controversial anti-LGBTQ-plus bill, cautioning that it could result in the country losing 70-billion-rand in World Bank funds. The bill, recently approved by lawmakers, aims to restrict LGBTQ-plus rights. A confidential document warns that the bill will impact Ghana’s economic recovery efforts negatively. The bill’s fate awaits presidential action amid international scrutiny and domestic political dynamics ahead of the December elections.

# Motorsport: South Africa’s Brad Binder finished second for MotoGP team Red Bull KTM Factory Racing in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix. Italy’s reigning world champion and Ducati rider, Francesco Bagnaia, stormed into the lead in the opening lap of the race and held it until the end to win the race. Polesitter Spain’s Jorge Martin of Pramac Racing had to settle for third. Bagnaia leads the world championship standings with 31 points followed by Binder in second and Martin in third.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-76-cents and the euro at 20-rand-53-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-12-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-and-28-dollar-67-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-179-dollars-74-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-40-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….