News 11:00

BULLETIN 22 March 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The speaker of the National Assembly hands herself over to police amid a corruption probe

# The DA submits a motion of no confidence against Mapusa-Nqakula           

# And the former Brazilian soccer star Robinho starts serving his nine-year sentence for rape

# National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula handed herself over to the police in Pretoria this morning, amid corruption allegations. She is accused of receiving over two-million-rand in tender bribes from a contractor to the South African National Defence Force, while she was the minister of Defence and Military Veterans. According to reports, she is expected to appear in the High Court in Pretoria today.

Meanwhile the DA says it has submitted a formal motion of no confidence against Mapisa-Nqakula, who has taken special leave. The DA’s Siviwe Gwarube says taking special leave is nothing more than a cop-out, as the only solution is for her to resign:

# Parliament’s standing committee on Public Accounts says it is cautiously optimistic on progress made on Cape Town’s central railway line. This follows a third follow-up oversight visit to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s line in various railway corridors. Chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa is hopeful about Prasa’s deadline to ensure operational Cape Town Central Line corridors by next month. He also emphasises consequence management for former Prasa board members:

# US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, says they will bring a resolution to a vote at the United Nations Security Council today, calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the release of hostages in Gaza. The US has vetoed three UN ceasefire resolutions. Blinken says the US resolution is an opportunity for the council to speak with one voice to support the diplomacy happening on the ground and put pressure on Hamas to accept the deal:

# Soccer: Former Brazilian and Manchester City striker Robinho has been taken into custody to serve a nine-year prison sentence for rape. This comes after a court ruled the 40-year-old should serve the sentence in Italy. In 2017, he and five other Brazilians were found guilty of raping a woman at a nightclub in Milan in 2013. Robinho was arrested in his home city of Santos after his lawyers failed in their attempt to delay his detention. Robinho has 100 caps for his country.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-94-cents and the euro at 20-rand-52-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-92-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-215-dollars-63-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-168-dollars-71-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-25-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….