News 11:00

BULLETIN 18 March 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA is calling for transparency over South Africa’s fuel reserves amid the Middle Eastern conflict
# The Institute of Race Relations urges provinces to scrap BEE premiums from their budgets
# And golf: Louis Oosthuizen is not putting pressure on his team for the first-ever LIV event in Africa

# The DA is calling on minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, to be transparent about the state of South Africa’s fuel reserves. Mantashe assured the country recently there’s no need to panic about potential fuel shortages due to the Middle Eastern conflict. The DA’s James Lorimer says by law there are supposed to be two months’ supply of transport fuel held in reserve at any one time:

# The Institute of Race Relations calls on provinces to remove black economic empowerment premiums from their budgets. According to the organisation, these hidden costs inflate prices for government projects, from schools to clinics, and could be costing up to 150-billion-rand. It warns BEE premiums have previously harmed service delivery and encouraged corruption. The institute’s Makone Maja claims cutting the premiums could save billions of rand and help support efforts to reduce VAT.

# Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane will today introduce the law firm appointed to investigate the death of a Grade 5 learner from Reagile Primary School in Tembisa. Milton Mokgoatsane was struck by a falling goalpost at the sports ground last month. The department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, says they are committed to getting answers for Milton’s family:

Moving abroad:

# An estimated 4.9-million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3-million newborns, with most of these deaths preventable. This is according to a new report by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. It shows progress towards ending the preventable deaths of children under five by 2030 has slowed 60-percent since 2015. Among the key findings is that over 100-thousand children aged between one month and five died directly from severe acute malnutrition, with some of the highest numbers recorded in Pakistan, Somalia, and Sudan.

# Golf: Captain Louis Oosthuizen says he is not putting himself or any of his Southern Guards GC teammates under any extra pressure, as LIV Golf comes to South Africa for the first time this week. Over 90-thousand spectators will attend the tournament in Steyn City in Johannesburg from tomorrow. The team’s South African contingent also consists of Charl Schwartzel, Dean Burmester, and Branden Grace. Oosthuizen says they want to make their home advantage count:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-60-cents and the euro at 19-rand-17-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-19-cents and Bitcoin trades at 73-thousand-930-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-and-12-dollars-23-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 98-dollars-90-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….