News 08:00

BULLETIN 13 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA welcomes the IEC’s probe into the ANC’s Ezulweni settlement
# The Government Employees Pension Fund is probing the impact of a data leak
# And, president Ramaphosa says South Africa and Ghana have untapped economic potential

# ActionSA has welcomed the decision by the Independent Electoral Commission that it will investigate how the ANC settled its 102-million-rand debt with Ezulweni Investments, in terms of the Political Party Funding Act. In December last year, the ANC reached an out-of-court settlement with Ezulweni, which had earlier threatened to attach the party’s assets to recover the debt. ActionSA’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, says they believe the settlement agreement is dodgy:

# The Government Employees Pension Fund says a preliminary investigation has found that certain Government Pensions Administration Agency data was compromised by a ransomware attack last month. The fund manages the retirement savings of approximately 1.27-million public servants and more than 473-thousand pensioners and other beneficiaries. Pension payments were not affected by the attack which the Ransomware group LockBit allegedly claimed responsibility for. The fund says it is consulting with its administrator and National Treasury to establish the impact of the data leak.

# Embattled Ekurhuleni mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana lives to fight another day as a council meeting to table a no-confidence motion against him was adjourned yesterday evening. ActionSA sponsored the motion, which several parties including the ANC, DA and Freedom Front Plus endorsed. However, the council speaker adjourned the sitting to seek legal opinion after the ANC and the DA amended their submissions. ANC council chief whip, Jongiziwe Dlabathi, says they are not happy with the adjournment:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa and Ghana have untapped economic potential and much more needs to be done, both with the growth of total trade, and the diversification of products to high-value manufactured exports. South Africa is the largest purchaser of Ghanaian exports in Africa, and the third-largest importer of Ghana’s products globally. Speaking at a South Africa-Ghana business forum in Johannesburg yesterday evening, Ramaphosa says the two countries must now focus on the purchase of job-creating agricultural goods, advanced manufactured and value-added products.

# Soccer: Arsenal are through to the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in 14 years after beating FC Porto four-two in a penalty shootout at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners went into the last-16 second leg one-nil down, but they drew level when Leandro Trossard put them ahead before halftime. Both teams failed to score the winner after extra time. Goalkeeper David Raya saved two penalties as Arsenal progressed to the last eight. Manager, Mikel Arteta, says this win is big:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-66-cents and the euro at 20-rand-41-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-88-cents and Bitcoin trades at 72-thousand-90-dollars-96-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-160-dollars-12-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-30-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….