News 11:00

BULLETIN 28 March 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AfriForum slams minister Ntshavheni for misrepresenting a meeting on farm murders
# The Canadian prime minister says Donald Trump has permanently altered their relations
# And tennis: Aryna Sabalenka will face Jessica Pegula in the Miami Open final

# AfriForum has hit back at minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, for misrepresenting a meeting between the organisation and police. It refutes claims that it admitted the farm murder statistics presented by Police minister Senzo Mchunu were accurate. AfriForum’s Jacques Broodryk insists the meeting was to compare crime data, not address white genocide. He criticised Ntshavheni for undermining progress made in discussions on farm attacks:

# The DA is demanding a comprehensive and transparent review of Eskom’s pricing model while a 12.74-percent tariff increase for the power utility’s direct customers is set to come into effect on Tuesday. The DA’s Kevin Mileham says the electricity pricing policy needs to review how Eskom’s bulk tariffs are determined, how municipal tariffs are set, and provide a safety net for indigent consumers that minimises the role of municipalities:

# SECTION27 and Cancer Alliance have welcomed the High Court in Johannesburg’s ruling on the provision of lifesaving radiation oncology treatment for three-thousand cancer patients. The court declared the failure of the Gauteng Department of Health to provide lifesaving radiation oncology services to the patients on the backlog list, unlawful and unconstitutional. This is despite a 784-million-rand allocation to address the backlog. The department has been ordered to provide a progress report on a long-term plan to deliver radiation oncology services to cancer patients within three months.

# Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, says his country will need to dramatically reduce its reliance on the United States, as it is clear that America is no longer a reliable partner. This comes after president Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he would target imported vehicles and vehicle parts with a 25-percent tax. Carney says these latest tariffs are unjustified and are in breach of existing trade deals between the two countries:

# Tennis: World number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will face American Jessica Pegula in the Miami Open final tomorrow. Sabalenka defeated Italian Jasmine Paolini, while Pegula ended the fairytale run of teenage wild card Alexandra Eala of the Philippines. In the men’s draw, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is through to the semifinals following victory over American Sebastian Korda. American Taylor Fritz, unseeded Czech Jakub Mensik, and Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov are also through to the semifinals.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-24-cents and the euro at 19-rand-68-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-63-cents and Bitcoin trades at 85-thousand-688-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-and-84-dollars-12-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-94-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….