News 11:00

BULLETIN 12 April 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IEC goes to the Constitutional Court over the Electoral Court’s ruling on Zuma

# US senators drop plans to review South Africa’s Agoa eligibility
# And motorsport: Fernando Alonso extends his contract with Aston Martin

# The Electoral Commission has confirmed it has approached the Constitutional Court to appeal the Electoral Court’s ruling on former president Jacob Zuma’s exclusion from the elections. The court ruled that Zuma could contest the May 29th elections for the MK Party. The IEC had argued Zuma could not be a candidate because he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court. It says if the matter is not finalised before the elections, there is a real risk a person who is not qualified would have been allowed to contest.

# US senators have dropped plans to mandate the immediate review of South Africa’s eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity trade preference programme. The Agoa Renewal Act of 2023 draft had mandated an immediate out-of-cycle review for the country, over concerns about its positions on foreign policy including Israel’s war against Hamas. However, the senators have viewed it unnecessary to single out a particular country as the bipartisan bill, set to be introduced to renew the US’s trade pact with Sub-Saharan Africa, already allows for out-of-cycle reviews.

# ActionSA in Gauteng says it is shocked that more than 300 Nasi iSpani programme recruits have allegedly not been paid since they began working in February. Nasi iSpani is a mass youth employment programme driven by premier Panyaza Lesufi. The provincial government has dismissed claims that the jobs scheme has run out of funds and beneficiaries are not being paid. ActionSA’s Gauteng premier candidate, Funzi Ngobeni, says the programme is an ANC electioneering tactic:

# The Limpopo Department of Health says the repatriation process for victims of the recent bus crash begins today. The bus carrying Easter pilgrims to Moria plunged off a bridge in the Mmamatlakala Pass on the 28th of last month, killing 45 Botswana nationals. Only an eight-year-old girl survived. The department’s spokesperson, Neil Shikwambana, says six more bodies have been positively identified, adding to the eight already identified earlier this month:

# Motorsport: Two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso, has signed a contract extension to remain with Aston Martin until at least the end of the 2026 Formula One season. The 42-year-old Spaniard joined the team from Alpine last year, bagging six podium finishes across the first eight races. Team principal Mike Krack says Alonso is hungry for success and is completely dedicated to making the team a competitive force. Aston Martin is currently fifth in the constructors’ standings after the opening four rounds.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-74-cents and the euro at 20-rand-1-cent. One British pound costs 23-rand-45-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-803-dollars-37-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-398-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-45-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….