News 09:00

BULLETIN 15 March 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Trevor Manuel views cadre deployment as the greatest weakness in South Africa at present
# South Africa and Zimbabwe sign an agreement for water transfer to Musina
# And, tennis: Alcaraz will face Sinner in the Indian Wells semifinals 

# Former Finance minister and anti-apartheid activist, Trevor Manuel, says the greatest weaknesses in the state at present are cadre deployment and financial management. He gave the keynote address at Daily Maverick’s The Gathering 2024 in Cape Town yesterday. Manuel says his generation has been accused of walking away from an incomplete transition, adding that there was a need for an honest discussion about those aspects that remained undone including presidential prerogatives:

# Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, and his Zimbabwean counterpart, minister Anxious Jongwe Masuka, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the transfer of treated water from Beitbridge Water Treatment Works to Musina Town, Limpopo. Director-general, Sean Phillips says the bilateral agreement will provide approximately 15-million cubic meters per annum to the Musina area, benefiting over 132-thousand residents across 192 villages, supporting various socio-economic activities:

# The ANC in Greater Johannesburg is calling on the city to work with all stakeholders to ensure that the current water challenges are resolved timeously and that a long-term infrastructure improvement plan is put in place. Some Johannesburg residents still have no water, 13 days after the first of several power outages at Rand Water’s Eikenhof pump station. The ANC says Rand Water needs to get its house in order, as the collapse of its infrastructure has a direct negative impact on the lives of residents.

# A father of the teenager who killed four students at a Michigan high school in November 2021, has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Fifteen-year-old Ethan Crumbley took a gun from home and killed the students at Oxford High School. During the trial for the father, James, prosecutors showed that the gun was not safely secured at the home. His wife, Jennifer, is due to be sentenced next month after being convicted on the same charges. The Crumbleys are the first US parents to be prosecuted in this way.

# Tennis: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz has set up a semifinal clash with Italian Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells. The Spaniard defeated Germany’s Alexander Zverev, 6-3, 6-1. Australian Open champion Sinner extended his winning run to 19 matches by beating Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka, 6-3 6-3, to make the last four for the second consecutive year. Sinner says he feels much more confident heading into the semifinals this year:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-79-cents and the euro at 20-rand-41-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-91-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-217-dollars-74-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-164-dollars-40-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-20-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….