News 09:00

BULLETIN 15 April 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Roelf Meyer is South Africa’s new ambassador to the US
# ActionSA wants President Ramaphosa to fire Minister Ramokgopa
# And the UN chief says it’s time for restraint and diplomacy in the Middle East

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed veteran politician and peace negotiator, Roelf Meyer, as South Africa’s next ambassador to the United States. He replaces Ebrahim Rasool, who was declared persona non grata in 2025 after criticising president Donald Trump’s administration during a webinar on US politics. Presidency spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told Reuters that Meyer would start work immediately following the completion of all protocols in Washington.

# Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says government has taken a significant step to bolster national security and intelligence integration. This follows the official launch of the National Centre for Intelligence Coordination, a move aimed at enhancing South Africa’s ability to anticipate, detect and neutralise evolving threats. Ntshavheni says the country’s intelligence community is not a passive observer, but a decisive hunter of threats:

# ActionSA is calling on president Cyril Ramaphosa to immediately fire the minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Maropene Ramokgopa. This follows a Daily Maverick report, alleging that she received undisclosed gifts of three Chinese-made SUVs to the value of 1.5-million-rand. ActionSA’s Dereleen James says she will, in parallel, be laying a criminal complaint, a complaint to the Public Protector, and a parliamentary ethics complaint against Ramokgopa:

# United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, says without restraint, instability spreads, mistrust deepens, and conflicts spiral out of control, a situation that applies everywhere, but urgently to the conflict in the Middle East. The conflict has caused death and devastation across the region, while the blocking of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has affected the global economy. Guterres says peace agreements require persistent engagement and political will:

# Soccer: Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain are through to the Champions League semifinals following a victory against Liverpool at Anfield. 2025 Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé scored twice in the final 20 minutes as PSG defeated the Reds 2-0 in the second leg of the quarterfinal to record a 4-0 aggregate victory. Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid reached the semifinals for the first time since 2016/2017, after a 3-2 aggregate win over five-time champions Barcelona. This is despite losing a thrilling quarterfinal second-leg 2-1 in Madrid.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-34-cents and the euro at 19-rand-26-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-16-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 74-thousand-392-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-824-dollars-46-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-14-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….