News 13:00
BULLETIN 19 March 1 pm
Good afternoon. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# The ANC and the MK Party clash over a registration issue
# Johannesburg Water continues to implement interventions to boost water supply
# And motorsport: Mercedes is solving fundamental issues with its W15 car
# The uMkhonto we Sizwe Party is urging the Electoral Court to uphold its registration, countered by the Electoral Commission’s jurisdiction challenge. The ANC and former president Jacob Zuma’s new political party are set for a legal showdown in Bloemfontein. The ANC initiated the court action, arguing the MK Party’s registration was unlawful due to improper gazetting and application supplementation. ANC legal counsel Tshidiso Ramogale argues Deputy Chief Electoral Official Mawethu Mosery’s decision to register the MK Party was irregular:
# Johannesburg Water says it continues to implement interventions to boost water supply and balance the systems to ensure equitable distribution. The prolonged heatwave and lack of rain over the previous few weeks has increased demand significantly, causing reservoir levels to decline and the system to remain low. In the Commando System, there is slight improvement but the system remains under strain. The Central System is also improving. In the Soweto System, the heavy demand and hot weather are putting pressure on the system.
# The DA in Gauteng is calling on premier Panyaza Lesufi to provide a clear timeline of when the e-toll gantries will be switched off. In his state of the province address, the premier said the gantries would be switched off by the 31st of this month. The party’s Dorianne Arendse says for this to happen, the switching off must be gazetted 14 days before the proposed date, but this has not yet happened:
# Motorsport: Formula One team Mercedes says it is working on solving fundamental issues with its W15 car ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. Mercedes has scored just 26 points from the opening two races of the season, leaving it fourth in the constructors’ standings. The car has lacked one-lap and race pace. Mercedes’s trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, says there is a lot of work being done within the aerodynamics department, which will hopefully help with performance.
# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand and the euro at 20-rand-61-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-10-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-736-dollars-45-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-152-dollars-57-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 86-dollars-56-cents a barrel.
# And finally: The number of couples choosing to get married in China has gone up for the first time in nine years. The Ministry of Civil Affairs says last year there were 7.68-million newlyweds in the country, 12.4-percent more than in the previous year. This comes as the Chinese government campaigns to promote marriage in a bid to target record-low birth rates. According to reports, as marriage rates are closely tied to birth rates, some observers expect an increase in marriages could lead to more babies.
Stay tuned for more news………….