News 14:00

BULLETIN 22 April 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Pope Francis is to be buried in a wood and zinc coffin on Saturday
# The DA accuses minister Enoch Godongwana of overstepping his tax powers
# And tennis: Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are in the same half of the draw for the Madrid Open

# The Vatican has announced Pope Francis’s funeral will be held on Saturday, as world leaders, from US president Donald Trump to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, said they would attend to honour the Catholic leader. His funeral service, which is expected to draw huge crowds, will take place in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. The pontiff’s coffin, which he previously ordered should be of wood and zinc, will then be taken inside the church and from there to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial.

Back home:

# The DA has accused Finance minister Enoch Godongwana of overstepping his constitutional powers by announcing a VAT increase without parliamentary approval. The High Court in the Western Cape is today hearing the DA’s urgent application to interdict the minister from implementing next month’s 15.5-percent VAT rate. Backed by the EFF, the DA’s legal counsel, Michael Bishop, told the court only Parliament can legally impose taxes and that Godongwana’s actions undermine this principle:

# The Automobile Association says it is encouraged by early indications of a significant shift in road user behaviour during the Easter travel period. Preliminary data points to a notable reduction in both collisions and fatalities, despite traffic volumes reaching their highest levels in five years. The AA’s spokesperson, Eleanor Mavimbela, says this marks a promising step forward in the ongoing national effort to enhance road safety:

# ActionSA says it is deeply concerned about the fire that engulfed the emergency unit of Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng at the weekend, and is calling on the provincial Health Department to get to the bottom of this. The blaze impacted 81 patients, but no fatalities or injuries were recorded. ActionSA’s Emma More says like many others in the province, Tembisa Hospital is one of Gauteng’s healthcare facilities struggling with health and safety compliance and poor maintenance:

# Tennis: Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic are in the same half of the draw for the Madrid Open. Alcaraz, coming off the back of winning the title in Monte-Carlo, will begin his campaign against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka or Zizou Bergs of Belgium. Three-time champion Djokovic will play Italian Matteo Arnaldi or a qualifier in his first match. Defending champion Andrey Rublev of Russia is in the same half of the draw as Germany’s Alexander Zverev and American Ben Shelton.  

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-61-cents and the euro at 21-rand-40-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 88-thousand-566-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-460-dollars-92-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-41-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….