News 06:00

BULLETIN 1 March 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

#ActionSA threatens legal action over the ANC’s debt settlement with Ezulweni Investments
# Vladimir Putin warns of a nuclear war if countries send troops to Ukraine
# And rugby, taxpayers foot the 1.3-million-rand bill for the World Cup super fans’ travels

# The Department of Health says it has the right to continue with the work to strengthen the public health system to respond to the healthcare needs and demands of the population. The Gauteng High Court dismissed Solidarity’s bid to scrap the department’s National Health Insurance branch. The trade union argued that the branch should have been established only after the NHI Bill became law. The department says the court ruling has paved the way for it to prepare for the rollout of NHI.

# Calls for improved collaboration between police and the National Prosecuting Authority emerged at the National Conference on the Integrated Criminal Justice System in Boskburg. The conference was aimed at bolstering the country’s legal framework. The Institute for Security Studies’ Gareth Newham highlights a need for early prosecutor involvement in complex crimes to address evidence gaps. Between 2018 and 2019, the NPA declined to prosecute 53-percent of cases, often due to insufficient evidence.

# Eskom in Gauteng says effective from today it will resume direct charge of load-shedding for customers in Ekurhuleni due to the city’s repeated failure to comply with regulations. This follows after the metro did not reduce its load as the code of practice requires. Eskom spokesperson Amanda Qithi urged all electricity consumers to assist in reducing the load by switching off non-essential and high-consuming appliances to alleviate pressure on the national grid:

# Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned Western countries not to send troops to Ukraine or a nuclear war could be triggered. Several North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries, including the US, Germany, and the UK, have ruled out deploying ground troops to Ukraine. In his annual State of the Nation address, Putin said his country would bolster its military presence along its Western border to neutralise the threats of Nato expansion. This is after Finland and Sweden joined the alliance following Moscow’s invasion of Kiev.

# Rugby: Taxpayers paid over 1.3-million-rand on travel and accommodation for super fans Mama Joy Chauke and Botha Msila during last year’s World Cup in France. The Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture provided this information to the civil rights group AfriForum, which requested it under the Promotion of Access to Information Act. AfriForum’s campaign official, Charné Mostert, says certain details regarding the fans’ full spending remain undisclosed:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-17-cents and the euro at 20-rand-74-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-21-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-578-dollars-95-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-44-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-15-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….