News 15:00

BULLETIN 30 April 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the local government elections will take place early in November
# Minister Hlabisa calls for united government action on South Africa’s water crisis
# And athletics: Akani Simbine is cleared for the World Relays in Botswana

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced this year’s local government elections will be held on the fourth of November. More on this in our next bulletin.

# Ramaphosa says South Africa’s governance model is built on cooperation across national, provincial and local spheres. He was speaking at the Extended Presidential Coordinating Council. Ramaphosa says each level has a distinct role, from policy to implementation and service delivery. He emphasises the council’s role in aligning priorities and strengthening oversight, ensuring government functions as a unified system to effectively serve the country’s diverse society:

The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa meanwhile says the three spheres of government must work together to resolve South Africa’s water challenges. He told the council municipalities are central to service delivery and economic growth. Hlabisa emphasised water access is a constitutional right and called for urgent, coordinated action to improve governance, infrastructure and accountability. He emphasised functional municipalities are key to ensuring national development and stability:

# The Public Servants Association is concerned over the latest allegations against minister of Social Development, Sisisi Tolashe. A worker appointed and remunerated through the department was allegedly deployed to perform duties at a private residence, and then required to hand over a portion of her salary to a member of Tolashe’s family. PSA’s Claude Naicker says authorities must conduct a thorough investigation to ensure appropriate action if wrongdoing is established:

# The Postbank set a final deadline of 31 August for SASSA gold card holders to replace their cards with new black cards. The move affects social grant beneficiaries across South Africa. Old cards will stop working after the deadline, risking payment disruptions for those who do not comply. The Postbank’s Thami Cele also says customers will no longer access banking services at Post Office branches from tomorrow.

# Athletics: South Africa’s Akani Simbine has been cleared to participate in the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana, this weekend. The 32-year-old pulled up injured midway through the men’s 100-metre race at the inaugural Simbine Classic in Pretoria on Tuesday. He confirmed he suffered from severe cramping rather than a major injury. At the previous edition of the World Relays in China last year, South Africa won gold in the men’s four-by-100-metre and four-by-400-metre relays, while the women’s 400-metre relay team won bronze.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-76-cents and the euro at 19-rand-63-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-67-cents and Bitcoin trades at 76-thousand-115-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-639-dollars-48-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 108-dollars-21-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….