News 07:00

BULLETIN 8 Maart 7 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Labour Party seeks High Court intervention for the extension of electoral deadlines
# Sweden officially joins NATO after a two-year wait
# And cricket: England is looking to fight back against India

# The newly formed Labour Party of South Africa, linked to the labour union AMCU, is taking the Independent Electoral Commission to court over what it deems as cumbersome requirements for submitting candidate lists. The party aiming to contest the elections on 29 May, seeks an extension to today’s deadline for new parties to meet the IEC’s nomination requirements. The party’s Krister Janse van Rensburg argues the process of uploading over 60-thousand signatures is unfair:

# Civil society groups, including the SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition, have raised concerns over the sudden cancellation of public hearings on the SABC Bill in Parliament. The coalition, along with Media Monitoring Africa and the South African National Editor’s Forum called for the withdrawal of the bill. The Parliamentary portfolio committee on Communications and Digital Technologies postponed the hearings last minute, citing the need for legal advice on the bill’s viability. SOS has expressed concerns over the lack of transparency, urging careful consideration of the SABC’s funding model and editorial independence.

# The City of Ekurhuleni says the taxi strike that started on Wednesday evening will continue today, following the collapse of talks between the Gauteng government and various taxi associations. Commuters in Germiston, Katlehong, Tembisa, and other areas of the East Rand were left stranded yesterday morning. Taxi drivers are striking over a contract awarded to a private bus company. Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, says they are committed to ending this impasse:

# Western Cape premier Alan Winde has reiterated his ongoing concerns over service delivery challenges impacting residents in numerous municipalities, including Knysna. A 130-page report by the provincial has recommended that the Knysna municipality rein in its spending, fix its relationship with the community, make numerous key appointments to address a more than 50-percent vacancy rate, and overhaul its organisational culture. Winde says they will closely monitor steps local governments are taking to restore service delivery and financial management.

# Sweden has officially become the 32nd North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member two years after applying to join the military alliance. Prime minister Ulf Kristersson formally handed over accession documents to the US State Department in Washington, the final step to gain the approval of all Nato members. Sweden’s application to join the alliance was prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg says Sweden’s accession strengthens the alliance as a whole.

# Cricket: England assistant coach, Marcus Trescothick, says despite their performance on day one of the fifth and final Test against India, they are certainly not dead and buried. Spin duo Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Ashwin took nine wickets between them as England collapsed to 218 all out in Dharamsala. India then reached 135 for one at stumps. Trescothick says they failed to get enough partnerships together to put a big total on the board:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-69-cents and the euro at 20-rand-46-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-975-dollar-76-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-157-dollars-22-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-26-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….