News 12:00

BULLETIN 3 April 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The SANDF dismisses reports of soldiers captured in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
# The Road Accident Fund reports a surge in fraud cases
# And cricket: The Proteas women take on Sri Lanka in the T20 series decider tonight

# The South African National Defence Force has strongly rejected reports that two of its soldiers deployed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have surrendered to the M23 rebels. The SANDF deployment is part of the Southern African mission in the DRC. According to National Security News, the soldiers were taken by M23 rebels last week. SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini says all its members deployed in the DRC have been accounted for:

# The Road Accident Fund says it has reported a surge in fraud cases. Almost a thousand cases of fraud have been reported during the 2023/24 financial year. The fund’s spokesperson, McIntosh Polela, says there has been a high prevalence of lawyers colluding with claimants or defrauding them directly:

# A former United Nations climate chief is concerned the world’s climate goals could be at risk if former US president Donald Trump wins the presidential elections. He has hinted he would cancel president Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and push for more drilling for oil and gas if he is elected. Patricia Espinosa says Trump’s antipathy to climate action would have a major impact globally. America is the world’s second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gasses and biggest oil and gas exporter.

# Cricket: The T20 series between the Proteas women and Sri Lanka will be decided at Buffalo Park in East London tonight. After the Proteas won the opening game in Benoni by 79-runs, the visitors levelled the series with an impressive seven-wicket victory in Potchefstroom. Pace bowler Tumi Sekhukhune says the Proteas must win their home series:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-84-cents and the euro at 20-rand-30-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-69-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-173-dollars-95-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-269-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 88-dollars-82-cents a barrel.

# And finally: More wildlife and plant species will be protected as four of South Africa’s national parks continue with expansion plans. The Namaqua National Park and the Mokala National Park, both in the Northern Cape, and the Western Cape’s Karoo National Park and Agulhas National Park, have collectively been expanded by 20-thousand-206 hectares of land. Among the wildlife and plant species that will be protected through this expansion are the indigenous quiver tree or kokerboom, the white rhino, and the camelthorn tree.

Stay tuned for more news………….