News 11:00

BULLETIN 15 April 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# BOSA criticises the delays in the rebuilding of Parliament
# Eskom is accelerating the deployment of renewable energy
# And the federal funds of Harvard University are frozen

# Build One South Africa has criticised minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, for failing to take responsibility for delays in rebuilding Parliament. The rebuilding of the Old Assembly building, which was severely damaged in a devastating fire on January second, 2022, is only expected to start next month. BOSA’s spokesperson, Roger Solomon, says the minister has admitted that he has not received updates since November last year, which is an unacceptable dereliction of duty:

# Eskom says it remains focused on a balanced and diversified energy mix based on existing coal and nuclear and introducing gas for baseload power, as well as renewables, energy storage systems, and pumped hydro. The power utility has issued a tender seeking private partners for a separate Renewable Energy Business, to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy solutions. Eskom’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says they have an executable initial pipeline of at least two gigawatts of clean energy projects by next year:

# A preschool teacher, Amber Lee Hughes, has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and murder in the High Court in Johannesburg. She is accused of sexually assaulting and killing her boyfriend’s four-year-old daughter who was a learner in her class, Nada-Jane Challita, in January 2023. The National Prosecuting Authority’s regional spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, says the court heard that Hughes was in a relationship with the child’s father and had moved in with them, where tensions reportedly led to threats against the child.

# US president Donald Trump’s administration has frozen around 41.4-billion-rand in multi-year grants and about 1.1-billion-rand in multi-year contract value at Harvard University. This comes after the institution rejected a list of demands from the White House for policy changes. The demands include that the university cracks down on anti-semitism and alleged civil rights violations, including shutting down diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes. Harvard president, Alan Garber, says they have taken extensive reforms to address anti-semitism, describing the government’s demands as a political ploy.

# Rugby: New Zealand wing, Mark Tele’a, says he will leave the Blues at the end of the season to play in Japan, ruling him out of All Blacks selection next year. He will reportedly join Toyota Verblitz, led by former New Zealand head coaches Steve Hansen and Ian Foster. Tele’a has scored 13 tries in 19 Tests for the All Blacks and in 2023 was named World Rugby’s breakthrough player of the year. New Zealand has barred national selection for players if they are not contracted domestically.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-83-cents and the euro at 21-rand-33-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 85-thousand-515-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-226-dollars-28-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-86-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….