News 12:00

BULLETIN 19 April 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A political analyst says president Cyril Ramaphosa’s time in office appears limited 
# Tshwane is set to complete the delayed two-billion-rand Bus Rapid Transit project in May
# And ugby: Jacques Nienaber is back in South Africa with Leinster 

# Political analyst, Daniel Silke, says with a possible poor performance in next month’s general elections for the ANC, and president Cyril Ramaphosa’s populist opponents baying for his blood, his time in office appears limited. In an opinion piece for Business Day, he says should the ANC get below 50-percent, Ramaphosa will ultimately be blamed. Silke says Ramaphosa will either have to bite the bullet on a pragmatic centrist deal or flounder with more radical political bedfellows, like the EFF, that makes no secret of wanting him out.

# The City of Tshwane says the upgrades to the Wonderboom intermodal interchange and Hector Peterson A Re Yeng BRT station, will be completed by the end of next month. The two-billion-rand project was initially due to be finished by September last year. The metro’s spokesperson, Selby Bokaba, says this has been a complex multi-disciplinary project with multiple mechanical, civil and electrical interfaces, hence the difficulty in finishing on time.

# Cape Town Air Access and Norse Atlantic Airways will introduce a new direct flight route connecting Cape Town International Airport to London Gatwick Airport on the 28th of October. Norse Atlantic Airways will operate three flights per week on the route, significantly enhancing connectivity between Cape Town and the UK. Western Cape MEC for Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, believes the new route will be a success:

# Rugby: Former Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber is back in South Africa with Leinster for tomorrow’s United Rugby Championship game against the Lions at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. The Irish giants are on top of the URC log and will also play in the semifinals of the Champions Cup. Leinster head coach, Leo Cullen, has praised Nienaber’s influence:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-24-cents and the euro at 20-rand-48-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-670-dollars-80-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-381-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-15-cents a barrel.

# And finally: New Zealand police have shot dead a ram after it suspectedly killed its owners. Police came upon the bodies of the elderly couple in the paddock next to their home in Waitakere after their son became concerned. The animal was still there and attacked police, who decided to kill it. The townsfolk were shocked over the incident, saying they couldn’t believe what had happened. Post-mortems will be conducted on the victims and the authorities started an investigation.

Stay tuned for more news………….