News 08:00

BULLETIN 30 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa instructs ministers to find ways to reduce the impact of the fuel price increases
# Senzo Mchunu has resumed his duties as an ANC NEC member
# And, Trump says he is considering seizing Iran’s key fuel hub, Kharg Island

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed concern at the looming fuel price hikes. The latest data from the Central Energy Fund is pointing to a petrol increase of over five-rand per litre, while diesel is expected to increase by over nine-rand per litre. Speaking on the sidelines of the ANC Limpopo elective conference on Sunday, Ramaphosa said he has instructed the relevant ministers to come up with proposals on how to reduce the impact of the fuel price increases on South Africans:

# Suspended Police minister, Senzo Mchunu, has resumed his duties as a member of the ANC National Executive Committee, stepping back into one of the party’s key decision-making structures. He has been implicated in the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee, over allegations of corruption, including alleged links to businessman Vusumusi ‘Cat’ Matlala and claims of interference in policing operations. Mchunu has called on KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, to present evidence backing the allegations of wrongdoing against him:

# The Minority Governing Parties have welcomed the outcome of the recent High Court judgment in the matter between the DA and the City of Johannesburg. Spokesperson Yogama Zigegde says this on the urgent application seeking to halt the implementation of the Political Facilitation Agreement, which was struck off the roll for lack of urgency. He says for years, workers have carried the burden of uneven pay structures, despite performing similar functions under the same municipal umbrella. He adds that this ruling protects the integrity of that struggle.

# US president Donald Trump says he is still considering whether to seize Iran’s Kharg Island, a key fuel hub in the northern Persian Gulf. The island handles 90-percent of Tehran’s oil exports. Trump’s comments come as a further three-thousand-500 US troops arrived in the Middle East over the weekend. He told the Financial Times that American troops could easily take Kharg Island as Iran does not have any defence there. He added that indirect talks between the US and Iran via Pakistan emissaries were progressing well.

# Tennis: World number two Jannik Sinner won the Miami Open to complete the Sunshine Double for the first time in his career, which means winning Indian Wells and Miami in the same year. The Italian defeated the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka, 6-4, 6-4, becoming the first man to complete the Sunshine Double since Roger Federer in 2017, and the eighth man ever to achieve the feat. Sinner says it means a lot to achieve this feat:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-12-cents and the euro at 19-rand-72-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-72-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-122-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-515-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 106-dollars-48-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….