News 17:00

BULLETIN 10 March 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Electoral Commission registers 805 parties ahead of the local government elections
# South Africa’s GDP grows by 0.4-percent in late 2025
# And rugby: Jayden Nell replaces the injured Christie Grobbelaar for the Blitzboks in America

# The Electoral Commission says 805 political parties are registered ahead of the 2026 local government elections. Chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo says 20 new parties were registered between October 2025 and February 2026. Of the total, 299 are registered nationally, while 209 operate at provincial or metro level. Mamabolo urged parties to update their contact details to ensure smooth communication with the commission:

# South Africa’s economy recorded its fifth consecutive growth, expanding by 0.4-percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Between October and December, the increase was mainly driven by the finance, trade and services sectors, as well as higher household spending and government spending. Statistics South Africa’s Bokang Vumbukani-Lepolesa says overall, the economy expanded by 1.1-percent in 2025, the strongest annual growth since 2022, although sectors such as manufacturing, mining and electricity declined:

# Gauteng Finance MEC Lebogang Maile says the province had tightened procurement and compliance processes to curb corruption and misuse of public funds. Delivering the provincial budget today, he highlighted measures including stricter financial oversight, improved supply chain management, and the use of digital monitoring tools to detect irregularities and ensure accountability. Maile added that these steps are part of Gauteng’s broader commitment to transparent governance and restoring public confidence in the management of provincial resources:

# The House of Lords has backed a move to ban under-16s in the UK from social media platforms. Opposition peers also gave their support for the ban, which was carried by 261 votes to 150. Political momentum in favour of a ban has grown at Westminster since Australia’s move to ban under-16s from ten major platforms last month. The British government has indicated it will try to overturn an amendment in the House of Commons, whilst it holds its own consultation on a potential ban.

# Rugby: Jayden Nell will join the Springbok Sevens squad in the US today for the weekend’s sixth international tournament of this season in New York. The utility forward replaces Christie Grobbelaar, who picked up a knee injury in Vancouver last weekend. Twenty-year-old Nell, who attended Durbanville High School in Cape Town, also played for the SA ‘A’-side in 2024 and could make his debut this weekend. He joins Nabo Sokoyi, Luan Giliomee, Renaldo Young and Grant de Jager as new caps in the 2026 series.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-29-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-96-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-91-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-664-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-196-dollars-55-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 89-dollars-71-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….