News 09:00

BULLETIN 27 March 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA is going to oppose the government’s appeal on the load-shedding judgement
# The FF Plus warns of dire consequences if the water crisis is not addressed
# And the six people who are missing after the Baltimore bridge disaster are presumed dead

# ActionSA president, Herman Mashaba, says the party’s lawyers will oppose the government and Eskom’s appeal against the load-shedding judgment. In December last year, the full bench of the North Gauteng High Court deemed load-shedding unconstitutional and mandated that electricity supply be consistently maintained for public institutions like schools, hospitals, and police stations. ActionSA’s deputy spokesperson, James de Villiers, says it is clear that load-shedding violates the fundamental rights of citizens:

# The Freedom Front Plus says the water crisis highlights the ANC’s detachment from reality. According to the party, everything the ANC touches turns into a total disaster riddled with corruption and incompetence. They criticised the government’s plan to establish a national water resources infrastructure agency, which it believes is doomed to fail under ANC rule. The FF Plus’s Piet Mey calls for private sector involvement to address the water crisis, warning of dire consequences if immediate action is not taken.

# Western Cape MEC of Agriculture, Ivan Meyer, says the department’s budget will support the provincial government’s growth strategy, which sets an ambitious target of building a trillion-rand jobs-rich, inclusive, and sustainable economy. He tabled the department’s budget of one-billion-rand in the provincial parliament yesterday. Meyer says 38-million-rand is budgeted for flood damage support, while 57.8-million-rand is to provide animal health services to prevent and control animal diseases:

# The US Coast Guard has ended the rescue operation for the six workers, who were on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed yesterday. Eight people were working on the bridge when a cargo ship crashed into it. Two were rescued. Authorities say the six are presumed dead based on the temperature of the waters they had fallen in, and the length of time they have been underwater. All 22 crewmembers onboard the Dali, the ship that struck the bridge, were reported safe.

# Soccer: Wales has missed out on qualifying for Euro 2024 after a five-four penalty shoot-out defeat to Poland in Cardiff. The match ended goalless after extra time. Daniel James missed the only spot-kick saved by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, while Poland converted all five. Meanwhile, England, who have already qualified, played to a two-all draw against Belgium in a friendly at Wembley. Wales manager, Rob Page, says despite the defeat, he is keen to continue building what they have already started:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-98-cents and the euro at 20-rand-56-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-95-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-261-dollars-50-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-179-dollars-43-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-92-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….