News 08:00

BULLETIN 4 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Manamela defends putting three SETAs under administration
# City of Joburg says the collapsed Ormonde building was illegally erected
# And, Canada’s prime minister says the US-Israel’s war with Iran is a failure of the international order 

# The minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, says placing the Local Government, Services and Construction Sector Education and Training Authorities under administration is the correct move following serious governance failures.  Manamela says administrators are making progress to restore the SETAs. He also confirmed the department will defend any court challenges to the intervention:

# The MK Party says instead of bold structural reform, decisive governance, South Africa has experienced drift, indecision, and policy inconsistency under president Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership. This comes as the National Assembly has approved a 3.8-percent salary increase for Ramaphosa. The MK Party’s Mzwanele Manyi says South Africa deserves leadership that meets targets, restores hope, and delivers measurable progress, not leadership that is protected from consequences of its failures:

# The City of Johannesburg says preliminary investigations confirm that the collapsed building in Ormonde was illegally erected, bypassing necessary approvals and development procedures. Parts of the second-floor deck of the building, which was still under construction, caved in on Monday, killing nine workers. The metro says preliminary investigations also revealed that the owners and developers of the building failed to comply with the lawful requirements and development planning regulations. It adds that there is strong evidence of systemic disregard for the rule of law in this development. 

# Canadian prime minister Mark Carney says the US-Israel war against Iran is another example of the failure of the international order. The US says it has hit more than one-thousand-700 targets in Iran since it began its military operations on Saturday. Tehran has retaliated with a wave of attacks across the Middle East. Carney says while Canada considers Iran’s nuclear programme a grave global threat, they are calling for a rapid de-escalation of hostilities:

# Rugby: New Zealand Rugby has appointed Dave Rennie as the new All Blacks head coach following the departure of Scott Robertson in January. The 62-year-old former Wallabies coach beat out Jamie Joseph, who was seen as the frontrunner. Rennie will honour his commitments with the Kobelco Kobe Steelers in Japan, before returning to New Zealand to prepare for the July home series against France, Italy, and Ireland. New Zealand Rugby chairperson David Kirk says Rennie has a clear direction for the team heading into the 2027 World Cup.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-55-cents and the euro at 19-rand-19-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-5-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-274-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-158-dollars-49-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….