News 08:00

BULLETIN 6 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Godongwana says criminals tried to extort over 5-million in Bitcoin from the Landbank
# OUTA’s investigation exposes serious weaknesses in the student accommodation system
# And rugby: Malcolm Marx and Nadine Roos claim the top honours at the SA Rugby Awards

# Finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, has revealed that the Land Bank was the target of a cyberattack in January, with criminals attempting to extort approximately 5.4-million-rand in cryptocurrency from the entity. Preliminary investigations indicated that a third party gained access via a vulnerability on an internet-facing server and deployed ransomware, which encrypted a portion of the Land Bank server environment and multiple laptops. In a written parliamentary reply, Godongwana emphasised that the Land Bank’s critical enterprise resource planning systems, core banking and customer relationship management systems were not compromised.

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse says its two-year investigation has uncovered serious weaknesses in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme student accommodation system. The organisation found governance failures, accreditation flaws, and risks of corruption, with some properties listed as housing hundreds of students, appearing to be ordinary private homes. OUTA’s Rachel Fischer calls for urgent reforms, audits, and stronger controls to ensure students have safe housing and that taxpayer money is properly used:

# The African Transformation Movement’s John Senona has been elected as the new Ekurhuleni council speaker. He secured the position by receiving 94 votes, backed by the ANC and minority parties, beating the EFF’s Nkululeko Dunga. The speaker’s position became vacant last week after the resignation of Dora Mlambo. The EFF had insisted that the speaker’s post rightfully belonged to the Red Berets under an earlier political agreement with the ANC. Senona says he will preside over the council with fairness, impartiality, and firm adherence to the legislation.

# US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, says the American mission in Iran is advancing decisively, warning that their firepower will surge dramatically. He briefed the media at the US Central Command on Thursday. Hegseth stated that Iran is responsible for the widening conflict across the region by targeting allied countries that would otherwise want to stay out of this. He added that they have only just begun to fight, and fight decisively:

# Rugby: Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx was named Men’s Player of the Year at the 2025 SA Rugby Awards in Cape Town. For the second successive season, Nadine Roos was named Women’s Player of the Year and also won the Springbok Women’s Sevens Player of the Year award. Ethan Hooker and Byrhandré Dolf won the Men’s and Women’s Young Player of the Year award, respectively. The Springboks were named Team of the Year, with Rassie Erasmus receiving Coach of the Year.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-57-cents and the euro at 19-rand-26-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-16-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-192-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-141-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….