News 09:00

BULLETIN 16 March 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Madlanga Commission welcomes the arrest of a suspect linked to the murder of a key witness
# Cosatu says it will never agree to the liquidation of the Post Office
# And, One Battle After Another bags six awards at the Oscars, including Best Picture

# The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry has welcomed the arrest of a suspect in the murder of a key witness who testified before the commission. The suspect believed to have shot and killed Marius van der Merwe, also known as Witness D, was apprehended in Johannesburg over the weekend. Witness D testified in November last year, where he implicated suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department acting deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi. The commission’s spokesperson, Jeremy Michaels, says the suspect will appear in court today:

# Union federation Cosatu has rejected the South African Post Office’s business rescue practitioners’ proposal to liquidate the state-owned entity. This comes after the tabling of the national budget, which did not include the 3.8-billion-rand bailout that the BRPs have insisted they needed to keep the entity on its feet. Instead, the Post Office was allocated roughly 1.79-billion-rand over the next three financial years. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says the BRPs have nothing to show for their tenure beyond retrenching thousands of SAPO employees:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the inaugural National Transport Conference at Gallagher Estate today. The conference, themed “Transport: The Driver for Growth, Job Creation, Inclusivity and Sustainability,” will bring together policymakers, investors and industry leaders. Discussions will focus on modernising passenger rail, resolving port and freight bottlenecks, improving road safety and addressing infrastructure backlogs, while promoting a sustainable transport system to support economic growth and job creation.

# Tennis: World number two Jannik Sinner claimed ‌his maiden Indian Wells title, becoming just the third man in history, after Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, to win all six Masters 1000 hard-court trophies. The Italian defeated Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, 7-6, 7-6. Meanwhile, in the women’s draw, world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus defeated Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, to secure her first Indian Wells title. Sinner says he is happy to win his first title of the year:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-82-cents and the euro at 19-rand-26-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-31-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 73-thousand-666-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-and-19-dollars-86-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 101-dollars-14-cents a barrel.

# And finally, the political thriller, One Battle After Another, was the big winner at the 98th Academy Awards, winning six, including Best Picture, Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn. Sinners won four awards, including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan and Best Original Screenplay. Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet, while Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for Weapons. KPop Demon Hunters, the most popular film in Netflix history, won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for Golden.

Stay tuned for more news………….