News 07:00

BULLETIN 1 March 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Treasury faces an uphill battle meeting January’s greylisting requirements
# DA wants the new Transnet CEO to win the confidence of all stakeholders
# And, over 100 Palestinians were killed while gathering around food aid trucks in Gaza

# A year since South Africa’s greylisting for inadequate measures against money laundering and terror financing, the National Treasury acknowledges the tough road ahead to meet January’s requirements. Greylisting hampers investment and market access. Following the Financial Action Task Force’s recent meetings, five of 22 action items are partially or fully addressed. Notable progress includes criminalising terrorism financing and using intelligence for money laundering investigations. The Treasury aims to address four more items by May.

# The DA says newly appointed Transnet CEO, Michelle Phillips, must win the confidence of all stakeholders to restore the entity’s financial health. She has more than 20 years of experience working at Transnet. The DA’s Mimmy Gondwe, says minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, should give Phillips the space to do her job without political interference:

# A Soweto woman accused of kidnapping and killing her neighbour’s four-year-old daughter is expected in court today. Gauteng police arrested the woman on Wednesday. She allegedly drugged Keeya Mbulawa and put her in a luggage bag last month, but the girl’s mother demanded to search the luggage and found her injured child. Keeya died in hospital later.

# The Western Cape Education Department says the school admissions window for the next year will open on 11 March for grade one and eight applications and closes on 12 April. The department has also received an additional provisional allocation of 2.5-billion-rand for its Rapid School Build programme. Education MEC David Maynier urges parents to start gathering the necessary documentation, including the last official school report card, proof of identity, immunisation card, and proof of residence, to ease the application process:

# The Hamas-run Health ministry says at least 104 Palestinians were killed and over 200 injured near a food aid convoy in northern Gaza. According to reports, people had surrounded newly arrived aid trucks in western Gaza City in the hope of getting food, when allegedly Israeli forces started shooting. This comes as more than 30-thousand people have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s war with Hamas began in October last year. US president Joe Biden says this incident will complicate current ceasefire talks.

# Golf: South Africans Pieter Moolman and Shaun Norris share the lead after the first round of the SDC Championship at St Francis Links in the Eastern Cape. The pair struck seven-under-par 65 to lead England’s Daniel Brown by one shot. Defending champion Matthew Baldwin of England finished on two-under on 70. Norris says he is happy with how he was able to navigate the tricky conditions:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-15-cents and the euro at 20-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-20-cents and Bitcoin trades at 60-thousand-989-dollars-36-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-44-dollars-90-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-14-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….