News 09:00

BULLETIN 20 March 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Parliament says the Postbank can help strengthen financial inclusion
# Nearly two thousand Toyota Land Cruiser LC300 vehicles are recalled
# And, the Trump administration is seeking over 3.3-trillion-rand for the war in Iran

# Parliament’s portfolio committee on Communications and Digital Technologies says a properly capacitated Postbank has the potential to play a transformative role in deepening financial inclusion and reducing the cost of banking. The bank has obtained a licence from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority to operate as a financial services provider. Committee chairperson, Khusela Sangoni-Diko, says this achievement reflects sustained efforts by government to rebuild governance, enhance compliance and restore public confidence in the institution. She stressed that more work remains to be done for Post Bank to achieve operational readiness. 

# The National Consumer Commission has recalled one-thousand-846 Toyota Land Cruiser LC300 vehicles, sold between January 2025 and January 2026. This is due to automatic transmission faults. The LC300 vehicles have a ten-speed automatic transmission that uses linear solenoids to control gear shifts. The commission’s Prudence Moilwa says, according to the supplier, if a solenoid failure occurs under certain driving conditions, the transmission electronic control unit and the Engine ECU may not detect or report the failure, resulting in the transmission over-revving in certain gears:

# Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi says the province’s Economic Growth and Development Plan 2030 is a strategic roadmap designed to accelerate economic growth, attract investment and drive job creation. The plan has the potential to double the province’s growth rate. It predicts that gross domestic product growth could rise to between 3.6-percent and 5.4-percent. Lesufi says the plan aims to reassert Gauteng’s status as a globally competitive, integrated and sustainable economic hub:

# The Pentagon is considering asking the White House to approve a request to Congress for over 3.3-trillion-rand in additional military funding to fund the ongoing war in Iran. According to the BBC, some US lawmakers suggest that president Donald Trump’s decision to begin strikes in Tehran without consulting Congress may make it difficult to win support to fund the attack now. Trump says they need to replenish ammunition and other supplies depleted by the conflict and previous aid to other countries:

# Soccer: FIFA has passed ground-breaking regulations, which will require every team participating in its women’s tournaments to have a female head coach or assistant coach. Teams will also be required to have one woman on their medical staff. This will come into effect during the under-17s and under-20s Women’s World Cup and Women’s Champions Cup competitions this year. FIFA’s chief football officer Jill Ellis says the new rules mark an important investment in both the current and future generation of female coaches.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-77-cents and the euro at 19-rand-39-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-48-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-853-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-723-dollars-81-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 103-dollars-19-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….