News 06:00
BULLETIN 28 March 6 am
Good morning. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# South Africa’s economy performs worse than expected, with only 0.1-percent growth
# Eskom halts load-shedding for Easter Weekend
# And Olympics: The cost to host the Paris Games keeps escalating
# South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago says the country’s economy grew by only 0.1-percent in the fourth quarter of last year, falling short of expectations. This lacklustre performance is attributed to supply-side challenges, particularly severe electricity load-shedding, highlighting vulnerabilities in the economy. Briefing the media, Kganyago says the disappointing growth raises concerns about the economy’s resilience and its ability to recover from setbacks, impacting various sectors and potentially delaying broader economic improvements:
# Eskom has announced the suspension of load-shedding for the Easter weekend. Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokoena says updates for next week will be provided on Sunday afternoon, and any significant changes will be communicated:
# The Freedom Front Plus says expropriation without compensation will utterly destroy whatever is left of South Africa after 30 years under ANC rule. The party once again rejected the Expropriation Bill in the National Assembly, after the National Council of Provinces had referred it back with amendments. One of the objectives of the bill is to expropriate land and property in the interest of the public. The FF Plus says the amendments relate mostly to grammar and other minor changes to the original bill, therefore it remains unconstitutional.
# Rand Water says AfriForum’s court action to prevent it from reducing water supply to seven municipalities that owe it over three-billion-rand has failed. In its application, AfriForum asked the High Court in Pretoria to order the water utility to restore full water supply to the affected municipalities, saying the decision to reduce supply had far-reaching implications for the affected communities. The municipalities are in Gauteng, Free State, and Mpumalanga. Rand Water says it welcomes the ruling as the debt municipalities owe it is escalating at a rapid pace.
# Maryland’s governor, Wes Moore, says the top priority is to recover the bodies of the six people who are presumed dead, following the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. A cargo ship hit a pillar of the bridge early Tuesday morning, causing its collapse. The city of Baltimore remains in a state of emergency. Moore says he was able to spend time with the family members of the construction workers who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse:
# Olympics: The cost to host this year’s Games in Paris keeps escalating, with auditors expecting the total to be between 60- and 100-billion-rand. They estimated an amount of around 60-billion-rand at the start of last year after initial estimates stood at 49-billion. eNCA reports a 2020 study by the University of Oxford found every Summer Games since 1960 exceeded its budget two to three times, with Montreal and Rio de Janeiro left nearly bankrupt after hosting the Games in 1976 and 2016, respectively.
# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-95-cents and the euro at 20-rand-50-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-92-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-507-dollar-46-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-189-dollar-36-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollar-76-cents -cents a barrel.
Stay tuned for more news………….