News 15:00

BULLETIN 16 April 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Julius Malema is granted leave to appel his sentence but not his conviction
# The Madlanga commission postpones Carrim’s testimony to 29 April 
# And motorsport: Racing Bulls will introduce upgrades in Miami and Montreal

# EFF leader Julius Malema has been granted leave to appeal his five-year sentence, but his application to appeal the guilty conviction has been denied by the East London Magistrate’s Court in KuGompo City in the Eastern Cape. This follows submissions by advocates Laurence Hodes and Tembeka Ngcukaitobi. Magistrate Twanet Olivier said there are reasonable prospects another court may differ on sentence, but the court remains firm on the conviction:

# The Madlanga commission has postponed the appearance of North West businessman Suliman Carrim to April 29. He was due to testify today but remains under medical care following a health incident at a Sandton gym earlier this week. Carrim is accused of concealing over two-million-rand in payments to a company linked to controversial businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. He is also accused of using political influence to help Matlala secure a 360-million-rand police contract and of potential money laundering.

# Statistics South Africa says mining production rose by 9.7-percent year-on-year in February. The increase was driven mainly by strong gains in platinum group metals, chromium ore, manganese ore and gold, while declines in iron ore and coal weighed on overall performance. Stats SA’s Juan-Pierre Terblanche says mineral sales surged by 58.3-percent compared to a year earlier, largely boosted by sharp increases in gold and platinum group metals:

# The DA in Gauteng says the collapse of Tshwane’s wastewater management system has resulted in sewage pollution that poses a risk to residents’ health. Spokesperson Leanne de Jager says this was revealed in the Water and Sanitation Department’s 2025 Green Drop Report, which also showed Tshwane’s Green Drop score plummeted from 82-percent in 2013 to 33.8-percent last year. She says this is a public health and environmental catastrophe:

# Motorsport: Red Bull’s second Formula One team, Racing Bulls, plans to introduce upgrades to its cars at the Grand Prix in Miami in the US and Montreal in Canada next month. Team manager Alan Permane says this is because the race in Miami will become the fourth of the season following the cancellation of the Middle Eastern races. The team planned to use the upgrades in Bahrain and Montreal, but changed its plans due to the new roster. Racing Bulls are currently seventh in the constructors’ standings.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-37-cents and the euro at 19-rand-29-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 74-thousand-354-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-815-dollars-66-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 92-dollars-75-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….