News 07:00

BULLETIN 28 March 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Pravin Gordhan is threatening legal action against Parliament for the SAA-Takatso probe
# A UN report finds more than one-billion meals are wasted daily globally
# And cricket: Wolvaardt’s century helped the Protea Women to beat Sri Lanka in their first T20

# Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has threatened legal action against Parliament, for proposing that the Special Investigating Unit probe the collapsed South African Airways-Takatso Consortium deal. The portfolio committee on Public Enterprises says the department has not been able to successfully dispute all the allegations that former director-general, Kgathatso Tlhakudi, had made about the deal. Earlier this month, Gordhan announced that the sale of 51-percent SAA stake to Takatso was called off amid allegations of irregularities in the deal.

# General Industries Workers Union of South Africa has denounced the loss of 194-thousand jobs in the fourth quarter of 2023, highlighting a 1.8-percent decline in the labor force. The union’s president, Mametlwe Sebei, has blamed neocolonial capitalism and the ANC’s neoliberalism. Sebei has called for nationalisation of key sectors and prioritising job creation in various industries including construction. He says urgent action is required to address poverty and inequality:

# The City of Johannesburg has condemned the court action by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa. The non-governmental organisation prevented the metro from demolishing a disused, derelict building in the suburb of Bellevue East. The institute says the conduct of the city in wanting to demolish the building was unlawful, and that the occupants should be given alternative accommodation should the building be demolished. Mayoral committee member for Development Planning, Eunice Mgcina, says the city wastes millions of rands defending these unnecessary court actions which is unacceptable.

# The Western Cape government has announced a groundbreaking budget allocation of 30.85-billion-rand for education this year, the largest ever in the province’s history. Education MEC David Maynier says this substantial investment will support initiatives like the Back-On-Track programme to address learning losses and the Rapid School Build programme for constructing schools in underserved communities:

# Over one billion meals are wasted across the world each day while 783 million are affected by hunger. This is according to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme. The UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024, found that out of the total food wasted in 2022, 60-percent happened at the household level, with food services responsible for 28-percent and retail 12-percent. UNEP executive director, Inger Andersen, says food waste is a global tragedy that needs to be addressed urgently.

# Cricket: A century from captain Laura Wolvaardt helped South Africa Women power to a comfortable 79-run victory over Sri Lanka Women in the first T20 in Benoni. Wolvaardt scored 102 off 63 balls, becoming only the second Proteas Woman to score a T20 century. She was also involved in a record 116-run second-wicket partnership with Marizanne Kapp, as the host posted 198 for five. In reply, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 119. Wolvaardt says she is happy about her performance:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-92-cents and the euro at 20-rand-48-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-56-dollar-68-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-194-dollar-14-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollar-82-cents -cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….