News 08:00

BULLETIN 23 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA demands accountability for 637-million-rand in SETA funds
# The Cradock Four inquest is set to resume this week
# And, Iran threatens to completely shut off the Strait of Hormuz

# The DA says it is outraged by reports that over 630-million-rand in discretionary grants at the Education, Training and Development Practices Sector Education and Training Authority cannot be accounted for. According to the Auditor-General’s findings, the expenditure could not be substantiated due to missing records. The DA’s Karabo Khakhau says this is an administrative failure and a direct betrayal of young people who rely on SETAs to access training and employment pathways:

# Eskom has confirmed that South Africa has surpassed 300 consecutive days without load-shedding. The utility continues to strengthen its grid stability through its Generation Recovery Plan, which has successfully reduced unplanned outages to 14.85-percent. The power utility spokesperson Daphne Mokwena says Eskom will be strengthening grid stability by returning two-thousand-985-megawatts of generation capacity to service ahead of the evening peak today:

# The inquest into the killings of the Cradock Four activists, Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli, and Sparrow Mkonto, will resume with its third sitting at the Gqeberha High Court this week. The inquest was set up to establish whether the apartheid security branch, police, or any other persons can be held liable for the deaths of some anti-apartheid activists. The inquest will hear evidence from former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock, former minister Barend du Plessis, State Security Council Secretariat member Adamus Paulus Stemmet, and two former investigating officers.

# Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned that it will completely close the Strait of Hormuz if US president Donald Trump follows through on his threat to obliterate its power plants. Over the weekend, Trump gave Tehran 48 hours to reopen the Strait, through which about 20-percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes. The corps says if the country’s energy facilities are targeted by the US, power plants of regional countries hosting American bases will be legitimate targets.

# Rugby: The Stormers recorded a hard-fought 29-21 victory in the United Rugby Championship in Cape Town on Sunday. The hosts scored four tries on their way to a bonus point win, which sees them return to second place on the URC standings. All four South African teams recorded bonus point home victories in round 13th of the competition at the weekend. Three of the four sides, the Stormers, Lions, and Bulls, remain in the top eight, while the Sharks kept their playoff dreams alive.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-12-cents and the euro at 19-rand-70-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-80-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-405-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-356-dollars-24-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 108-dollars-55-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….