News 06:00

BULLETIN 17 March 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA calls on the Presidency to expedite the government of national unity’s delegation to the US
# At least 59 people are killed in a North Macedonia nightclub fire
# And cricket: The Dolphins beat Boland to be crowned One Day Cup champions

# The DA is calling on the Presidency to expedite the delegation of the government of national unity to America to negotiate a pathway towards stabilising diplomatic relations with one of the country’s most important trade and investment partners. US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, declared on social media that South Africa’s Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool is no longer welcome in the US and is a persona non grata. The DA’s Emma Powell told Newzroom Afrika the party views the expulsion of Rasool as deeply unfortunate:

Meanwhile, the Congress of the People says South Africa will not be treated as a colony of America, nor will it be dictated to by US president Donald Trump, who continuously reacts to misinformation about the country. COPE says Rasool’s expulsion is the latest attack from the Trump administration, which has continuously targeted the country for its support of Palestinian rights.

# Cosatu is calling on Employment and Labour minister, Nomakhosazana Meth, to ensure the glitches on the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s online system preventing the uFiling platform from running smoothly, are attended to and fixed immediately. The federation received glitches complaints from both workers and employers. Cosatu’s spokesperson, Zanele Sabela says in October last year, they raised concerns after the uFiling system was reported to have been offline for more than a month, frustrating workers and employers alike:

# The African Independent Congress in Johannesburg has welcomed the approval of the City’s Adjustment Budget, a crucial step in ensuring stable governance and improved service delivery. The Congress’s Margaret Arnolds says the approval of this budget demonstrates what can be achieved when coalition partners work together with a shared commitment to service delivery and financial prudence. She says Johannesburg’s residents deserve stability, not political gamesmanship:

# At least 59 people have been killed and over 100 injured after a fire broke out at a nightclub in Kocani, North Macedonia, on Sunday morning. According to initial reports, the fire had been started by sparks from pyrotechnic devices that had hit the ceiling, which was made of highly flammable material. As many as one-thousand-500 people were in the club attending a concert by DNK, a hip-hop duo popular in the country. Police have detained the owner of the nightclub, while arrest warrants have been issued for four other people.

# Cricket: The Dolphins are the One Day Cup champions, after defeating Boland by four wickets in Paarl. Aya Gqamane and Imran Manack shared a record eighth-wicket stand for the hosts, adding 96 runs from 75 balls to give Boland a solid total of 247 for eight after being sent in to bat first. In reply, JJ Smuts scored 91 off 111 balls as the Dolphins reached 248 for six with five balls to spare to secure the victory. Boland was bidding to win their first major title in 25 years.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-20-cents and the euro at 19-rand-81-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-54-cents and Bitcoin trades at 82-thousand-353-dollar-50-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-989-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-97-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….