News 08:00

BULLETIN 26 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Former president Zuma’s plans to scrap the secret ballot are criticised
# Cosatu is confident Parliament will accept the two-pot pension system without delay
# And the Weather Service warns of severe thunderstorms in parts of the Northern and Western Cape

# Political analyst professor Dirk Kotze says former president Jacob Zuma’s plans to amend the Constitution to allow for an open voting system threatening democracy. Zuma said changing the electoral laws is part of his plans to amend the Constitution if his uMkhonto we Sizwe party wins the May 29th elections. He also wants to decriminalise corporal punishment of children by their parents. Kotze says Zuma’s comments boil down to a cup of conservative populism and could see him lose election votes.

# Cosatu says reports predicting delays in Parliament passing the Two Pot Pension Reforms legislation are inaccurate. The Two-Pot Retirement System will allow retirement fund members to withdraw up to 30-thousand-rand of their retirement fund capital initially, with access to one-third of future contributions each year. Cosatu’s, Matthew Parks, says they are confident that Parliament will pass the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill and the Pension Fund Amendment Bill, which provide for the Two-Pot Pension Reforms, before the elections:

# US president Donald Trump’s criminal trial over alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels will begin on the 15th of next month in New York. He is charged with falsifying business records related to reimbursements for a payment to Daniels in the days before the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty. The trial will be the first against a former president in American history. Trump called the prosecution a witch hunt:

# Soccer: The South African Football Association is adamant Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos is going nowhere. This is despite Tunisian media reports suggesting that Broos was close to accepting an offer to lead the Tunisian soccer team. According to the reports, Broos, contractually committed to fulfilling the Bafana role until the 2026 FIFA World Cup, will tender his resignation after their match against Algeria today. Broos steered Bafana to their best Africa Cup of Nations finish in 24 years with the bronze medal last month.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-88-cents and the euro at 20-rand-47-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-87-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-507-dollars-60-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-170-dollars-38-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 86-dollars-9-cents a barrel.

# And finally, the South African Weather Service has issued a yellow level two warning for severe thunderstorms resulting in localised flooding over the central parts of the Northern Cape and the north-eastern parts of the Western Cape today. In the Northern Cape, partly cloudy, windy, and warm to hot weather with isolated to scattered showers and thundershowers, can be excepted. Weather forecaster, Stacy Colborne, says in the Western Cape, isolated showers and thundershowers over the eastern parts but scattered in the extreme east can be expected:

Stay tuned for more news………….