News 08:00

BULLETIN 17 April 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Deputy president Mashatile calls on traditional leaders to promote free and fair elections
# The National Treasury is committed to enhancing fiscal credibility
# And seven people have so far been selected on the jury for Trump’s trial

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile has urged traditional leaders to encourage eligible voters to participate in next month’s general elections and ensure they are free and fair. He delivered a keynote address during a dialogue convened by the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders in Pretoria yesterday. Mashatile also acknowledged that consistency is needed especially in policies when it comes to tackling the concerns of traditional leaders:

# National Treasury says the government is committed to enhancing fiscal credibility and ensuring continued transparency and accountability in the management of public finances. The International Monetary Fund’s Fiscal Transparency Evaluation Report has placed South Africa in the top three countries in terms of transparent fiscal practices. Treasury says it notes the need to improve in specific areas as recommended in the report. These include improving fiscal reporting, strengthening tax expenditure disclosure, and enhancing the analysis of risks in the fiscal risk statement.

# ActionSA says the appointment of the Special and Independent Investigation Committee chairperson Pule Seleka by City of Johannesburg Council Speaker Margaret Arnolds aims to shield corrupt officials. According to the party, the ANC and EFF “coalition of doom” views the Group Forensics and Investigation Services as a threat. They accuse the coalition of flouting the rule of law and accountability. ActionSA’s Nobuhle Mthembu urges Arnolds to refrain from abusing power and allow the unit to continue its work unhindered:

# Seven jurors have so far been picked to sit in US former president Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial in New York. The jury members selected so far are four men and three women, including a salesman, a nurse, two lawyers, an IT consultant, a teacher, and a software engineer. A 12-person jury and up to six alternates must ultimately be chosen. Trump is charged with falsifying business records for his alleged role in a hush-money scheme before the 2016 election.

# Soccer: Paris St-Germain will face Borussia Dortmund in the semifinals of the Champions League. Kylian Mbappe scored twice as he inspired PSG to a pulsating four-one quarterfinal second-leg victory, winning six-four on aggregate against Barcelona. Dortmund reached their first semifinals in eleven years by beating Atletico Madrid four-two in the second-leg tie and winning five-four on aggregate. PSG manager, Luis Enrique, says he is happy to make the semifinals:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-1-cent and the euro at 20-rand-21-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-64-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-and-5-dollars-8-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-382-dollars-7-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 89-dollars-44-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….