News 08:00
BULLETIN 4 March 8 am
Good morning. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# Today is the last day for objections to the provisional voters’ roll
# Kamala Harris is calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza
# And rugby: The Blitzboks beat Canada to finish in 11th place in Los Angeles
# Today is the last day for objections to the provisional voters’ roll as the Independent Electoral Commission gears up for the 29th of May general elections. Objections received by the commission on or before today will be considered, investigated and the outcome determined by next week Monday. The IEC says procedural requirements of Section 15 of the Electoral Act must be satisfied when objecting. Meanwhile, all independent candidates and political parties who intend to contest the election must submit nomination requirements by five pm on Friday.
# The DA is calling for the immediate abandonment of the government’s Energy Action Plan. This follows the release of a report prepared for the National Treasury by German consultants VGBE Energy on South Africa’s fleet of power stations. The report revealed that Eskom’s dysfunctional and overly complex management system is the primary reason behind the poor performance of its coal-fired power stations. The DA’s, Samantha Graham, says it is clear that the energy plan completely misdiagnosed the challenges at coal-fired power stations:
# The Gauteng Department of Health has welcomed the ruling of the Johannesburg High Court on the waste tender matter between itself and Buhle Medical Waste. The company had accused the department of awarding a 525-million-rand medical waste tender to Tshenolo Waste and Phuting Medical Waste irregularly. The department’s spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba, says the court ruling reaffirms that the proper processes were followed in the awarding of the tender:
# US vice president Kamala Harris is calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for at least the next six weeks. Yesterday, a Hamas delegation arrived in Egypt for the latest round of ceasefire talks, billed by many as the final possible hurdle for a truce. Speaking at an event in Selma, Alabama, Harris also called on the Israeli government to do more to significantly increase the flow of aid, saying the immense scale of suffering in Gaza is unacceptable:
# Rugby: The Blitzboks finished a disappointing eleventh place at the Los Angeles Sevens. Four tries from Zain Davids, who scored twice, Ryan Oosthuizen, and Tristan Leyds, gave South Africa a 28-15 victory against Canada in the eleventh-place play-off. This is the second consecutive tournament that the Blitzboks have failed to get out of their pool. Meanwhile, the Springbok Women’s Sevens finished sixth after going down 53-nil to France in the fifth-place playoff.
# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-8-cents and the euro at 20-rand-70-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 61-thousand-506-dollars-37-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-81-dollars-73-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-63-cents a barrel.
Stay tuned for more news………….