News 15:00

BULLETIN 16 April 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Electoral Commission prepares for ballot printing ahead of election day
# The DA in Gauteng is concerned by the illegal activities of construction mafias 
# And rugby: The Ikeys and Shimlas are through to the Varsity Cup final

# The Electoral Commission says substantial progress has been made in preparation for the national and provincial elections. Certificates have been granted to 14-thousand-889 candidates competing for 887 seats. After verifications, 70 political parties and eleven independent candidates were confirmed as final contestants. Gender representation sees progress, with several parties exceeding 50-percent female candidates. Briefing the media, chief electoral official Sy Mamabolo says candidate demographics reveal a majority of men, with the 40 to 49 year age group dominating:

# The DA in Gauteng says the lack of prompt action from the provincial government to address the illegal activities of construction mafias is disheartening. The Montrose Mega City project in Randfontein, worth eleven-billion-rand and aimed at providing homes for 174 deserving military veterans, has been brought to a standstill by construction mafias. The DA’s Mervyn Cirota says the actions of these mafias have a major negative effect on housing projects in the province:

# A fishing boat sank in the Zambezi river in central Mozambique, killing eight people including six children. This comes a week after a shipwreck killed almost 100 people, many of them children, around thousand kilometres further north. Administrator of the Caia district, Nobre dos Santos, says the boat was carrying 12 people, mainly farmers. Two people survived and two others are still missing.

# Rugby: The Shimlas of the University of the Free State will face the Ikey Tigers of Cape Town in the final of the Varsity Cup in Bloemfontein on Monday. The Shimlas beat the Maties at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch last night, recording a shock victory of 38-24. The Ikey Tigers then beat the NWU Eagles in Potchefstroom 32-18.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-97-cents and the euro at 20-rand-18-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-63-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-660-dollars-7-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-373-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 89-dollars-77-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The City of Tshwane, City of Cape Town and eThekwini Municipality are finalists for the national title for the World Wide Fund’s One Planet City Challenge. The cities have been recognised for showcasing their commitment to combating climate change and transitioning towards a low-carbon trajectory. The City of Johannesburg won the title in 2022. The national winner will go on to compete with cities around the world. WWF South Africa’s Innocentia Modau says the three cities now have the chance to drive the climate agenda forward.

Stay tuned for more news………….