News 08:00

BULLETIN 4 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AfriForum says it does not feel threatened by the charges of treason
# Minister Macpherson reviews recommendations for the Independent Development Trust
# And Donald Trump reportedly orders a pause on US military aid to Ukraine

# AfriForum says there are no legal grounds for the treason charges the National Prosecuting Authority is investigating. On Monday, the Hawks revealed that four dockets of high treason have been opened, understood to be against AfriForum and Solidarity, over the spread of misleading information. The organisations recently met with the Trump administration in Washington over South Africa’s expropriation policies and the alleged threat to Afrikaners. AfriForum CEO, Kallie Kriel, says they have not yet received any official notice from the Hawks or NPA:

# Public Works and Infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson is reviewing recommendations to appoint five new board members to the Independent Development Trust. The board submitted these names following existing vacancies, four of which date back to 2023. Macpherson emphasised the need for strong leadership to restore stability amid corruption concerns. Once appointed, the board will address key structural reforms. This includes the PwC investigation into the failed Pressure Swing Adsorption Oxygen tender plant.

# The Gauteng ANC provincial task team working committee held its first meeting on Monday, where it agreed to immediately implement tasks in line with the mandate received from the party’s national executive committee. The provincial executive committee was reconfigured last week following the poor performance in the general elections in 2024. The provincial task team working committee says the key focus areas include rebuilding the ANC structures, ensuring leaders work together, and overseeing the work of deployed cadres to ensure service delivery.

# US president Donald Trump has reportedly ordered a pause and review of the military aid to Ukraine. This comes after Trump clashed with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last week. All US military equipment not currently in Ukraine would be paused, including weapons in transit and at depots in Poland. According to reports, this pause is temporary until Trump determines that Ukraine can demonstrate a commitment to peace negotiations with Russia.

# Soccer: Former Bafana Bafana striker, Benni McCarthy, has been appointed as the new head coach of Kenya. This follows his departure from Manchester United at the end of last season, where he was a first-team coach specialising in strikers. The 47-year-old’s previous managerial experience has been at Cape Town City and AmaZulu. Kenya will co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations with Tanzania and Uganda. McCarthy says the Kenyan team is a sleeping giant:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-63-cents and the euro at 19-rand-53-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-64-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-785-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-890-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-11-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….