News 06:00

BULLETIN 4 March 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA says Home Affairs needs to move out of the dark ages
# Load-shedding is suspended during the day
# And, the government is launching Human Rights Month in Pretoria today

# The DA urges Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi to introduce a live application tracking system in immigration, addressing significant backlogs and enhancing transparency for visa applicants. In a recent presentation to parliament’s portfolio committee, Home Affairs revealed a backlog dating back to 2016, exacerbated by Covid-19 lockdown restrictions preventing officials from working. The DA’s Angel Khanyile says reports suggest the current backlog now surpasses 95-thousand:

# Eskom says load-shedding will be suspended during the day this week. From five in the morning until four in the afternoon load-shedding will be suspended, followed by stage two being implemented from four in the afternoon until five in the morning. Eskom’s spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena, says this is due to the return of some generating units to service and the sufficient emergency reserves:

# Western Cape police say the search for missing Joslin Smith has been expanded with the dispatching of drone operators and search and rescue dogs in Saldanha Bay. This comes after clothing with blood stains, allegedly belonging to the six-year-old girl, was found in an open field in Middelpos on Saturday night. Police spokesperson, Malcolm Poje, says due to the time that has passed since Joslin was reported missing, the search and investigations have taken and assumed different approaches:

# Hamas says an agreement on a temporary ceasefire could be reached within the next 24 to 48 hours if Israel meets its demands. Mediators and Hamas are in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, for talks on a new ceasefire. The six-week ceasefire being negotiated would allow for the release of more Israeli hostages, the flow of aid into Gaza, and more Palestinian prisoners being released in Israel. One-thousand-200 people have been killed in Israel and over 30-thousand killed in Gaza since the Hamas-Israel conflict began in October last year.

# Motorsport: Red Bull boss Christian Horner has said he “absolutely” expects to remain in charge for this week’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The team principal told Sky Sports Red Bull is a very strong team after reigning world champion Max Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez came first and second in the weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. Horner was placed under investigation following allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague but has since been cleared.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-10-cents and the euro at 20-rand-71-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-683-dollars-93-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-80-dollars-69-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-81-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in partnership with the Department of Justice and Correctional Services will launch Human Rights Month at the Gallows Museum at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria today. This will be under the theme, Three Decades of Respect for and Promotion of Human Rights. The launch will unpack the significance of Human Rights Month in the context of the 30th anniversary of freedom and will detail the month-long commemoration programme.

Stay tuned for more news………….