News 06:00
BULLETIN 20 March 6 am
Good morning. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# Solidarity accuses the ANC of risking US ties for election gains
# Paul Mashatile says municipalities are developing water and sanitation turnaround strategies
# And, the Public Servants Association condemns Dawie Roodt’s remarks
# Trade union Solidarity says the government is risking South Africa’s relationship with the US for political gain. The union has criticised the handling of US ambassador Leo Brent Bozell and plans for an anti-US march, warning this could threaten up to 500-thousand jobs and harm trade. Solidarity’s Dirk Hermann has also criticised ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula for remarks that could worsen tensions, and warned ordinary South Africans may bear the cost.
# Deputy president Paul Mashatile says metropolitan municipalities are now developing water and sanitation turnaround strategies, as part of the Reform of Metropolitan Trading Services Programme by the National Treasury. He answered questions in the National Assembly yesterday. The water crisis committee, chaired by president Cyril Ramaphosa, held its first meeting on Wednesday, as it looks to finalise its action plan. Mashatile has urged municipalities to ringfence water revenue for infrastructure upgrades:
# The Public Servants Association has criticised remarks by economist Dawie Roodt describing public servants as parasitic and state capturers. The PSA says the comments are offensive and ignore the difficult conditions under which public workers operate. They also rejected claims that public servants are overpaid, stressing that salaries are set through proper negotiations. The association’s Claude Naiker warns against blaming public servants for broader economic challenges as they remain essential to service delivery.
# The Madlanga Commission has questioned WhatsApp messages between SAPS officer Fannie Nkosi and Tshwane chief financial officer Gareth Mnisi. Evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson told the commission that Mnisi shared a Hawks letter that was seeking information on certain investigations and sought Nkosi’s guidance on responding. The investigations included tenders at the Tshwane Metro Police Department. Nkosi says he only intervened in one invoice, not multiple invoices:
# A senior Russian official called for the creation of a safety zone around Iran’s Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant to prevent a major disaster, two days after a projectile struck within several hundred metres of its reactor. The head of the Rosatom state nuclear corporation, Alexei Likhachev, said there were 72 tons of fissile material and 210 tons of spent nuclear fuel at the site. He warned if an incident were to occur, it would be at least regional in scale and would affect a large number of countries in the Middle East.
# Golf: Home team, the Southern Guards GC got off to a dream start in round one of the LIV Golf South Africa at Steyn City in Johannesburg. The team, consisting of captain Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel and Dean Burmester, topped the leaderboard with a score of 18 under. They are one shot ahead of Smash GC and two shots ahead of Crushers GC. Burmester says round one was the greatest day he has had on the golf course:
# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-72-cents and the euro at 19-rand-36-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-45-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-166-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-635-dollars-90-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 103-dollars-85-cents a barrel.
Stay tuned for more news………….