News 09:00

BULLETIN 16 April 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Postbank suspends the issuing of black SASSA cards
# Cosatu will not make a hasty decision on the SACP contesting the 2026 elections
# And China’s economy grew by 5.4-percent in the first quarter of 2025

# The South African Social Security Agency has confirmed that beneficiaries can continue using their gold cards until all have been successfully replaced with Postbank black cards. This follows the South African Reserve Bank’s directive to Postbank to ensure uninterrupted grant payments during the transition. SASSA’s Andile Tshona urges beneficiaries to choose any bank of their choice to access their money:

# Cosatu says its Special Central Executive Committee has agreed not to make a hasty decision regarding the SACP’s resolution to contest the 2026 local government elections independently from the ANC. Although SACP members have stood as ANC candidates in elections, the party itself has never contested under its banner. Cosatu’s spokesperson, Zanele Sabela, says the committee has resolved to invite both the ANC and SACP to a meeting, to outline their programmes and modalities on how the elections will be run:

# The GOOD Party says no dispute at an institution of higher learning should ever escalate to the point of violence, let alone the loss of life. This comes as one person was shot and killed and two others wounded during student demonstrations at the Walter Sisulu University’s Mthatha campus on Tuesday. The victim was allegedly shot by a residence manager. GOOD’s national youth chairperson, Kaden Arguile, says they are calling for a full investigation into this incident:

# China’s economy grew by 5.4-percent in the first three months of this year, higher than the expectations of economists who had predicted an expansion of 5.1-percent. This comes as China is currently dealing with the fallout of an escalating trade war with the US. Exports from China to America now face 144-percent levies, compared to 125-percent for US goods entering China. Morgan Stanley economists say China’s economic growth is likely to deteriorate rapidly from the second quarter, given the low possibility of bilateral negotiations to establish an offramp for the tariff hikes.

# Soccer: Barcelona and Paris St-Germain are through to the Champions League semifinals. The Catalan giants suffered a 3-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund but progressed to the last four following a 5-3 aggregate score in their second-leg tie. Aston Villa won 3-2 in the second-leg of their quarterfinal against PSG at Villa Park but were eliminated 5-4 on aggregate. Barcelona will face either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich, while PSG will meet defending champions Real Madrid or Arsenal in the semifinals.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-2-cents and the euro at 21-rand-57-cents. One British pound costs 25-rand-22-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-727-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-280-dollars-14-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….