News 08:00

BULLETIN 24 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says NHI will help bridge the gap between public and private healthcare
# The Supreme Court of Appeal dismisses a bid to block Employment Equity targets
# And, four wanted suspects are killed in a shootout with the police

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says the public and private healthcare sectors cannot continue to operate in parallel, as if serving two separate nations. In his weekly newsletter, he noted that only about 16-percent of the population relies on private healthcare; significantly more resources are spent per patient in that system than in the public sector, which serves the majority. Ramaphosa stated that ongoing efforts to strengthen the public health system in preparation for the NHI include upgrading facilities, improving access to medicines, and introducing digital systems.

# Employment and Labour minister Nomakhosazana Meth has welcomed a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling dismissing an appeal against the employment equity regulations and five-year sector numerical targets. The court found no reason to block the implementation of the amendments, which apply to 18 economic sectors. Meth says the ruling requires all designated employers to comply with the targets, align them with their annual employment equity plans, and confirms the regulations are lawful and support workplace equity.

# Four suspects were shot and killed in a shootout with police in, Belair, Durban on Monday. The suspects were wanted in connection with a series of kidnappings and robberies. KZN police spokesperson, Robert Netshiunda, says a manhunt has been launched for a fifth suspect, who managed to escape during the shootout:

# US president Donald Trump insists that Iran wants to make a deal. This comes as he stated yesterday that his administration has had very good and productive discussions with Tehran about a complete and total resolution of hostilities in the Middle East. However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said there was no dialogue between Tehran and Washington, accusing Trump of trying to manipulate the oil markets. Trump says Iran has one more chance at peace:

# Rugby: The University of Pretoria-Tuks secured a narrow 27-24 victory over debutants the Emeris, to move to the top of the Varsity Cup log. The University of Johannesburg defeated Central University of Technology 29-13 as they continued their march towards the semifinals. The University of the Free State-Shimlas kept their semifinal hopes alive with a crucial 40-33 bonus-point victory over defending champions University of Cape Town-Ikeys. University of Stellenbosch-Maties secured a hard-fought 30-26 victory against North West University-Eagles in Stellenbosch.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-93-cents and the euro at 19-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-70-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-480-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-358-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 100-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….