News 08:00

BULLETIN 18 March 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa responds to questions submitted by Parliament’s ad hoc committee
# Action Society warns of a rising cold case crisis in South Africa
# And, Zelensky says Iran and Russia are ‘brothers in hatred’

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has formally provided written responses to questions submitted by Parliament’s ad hoc committee. The committee is investigating allegations of criminal infiltration, corruption, and political interference in the justice system. About 120 questions were sent to the president, including his knowledge and involvement in the controversial disbanding of the task team on political killings. The Presidency says Ramaphosa’s submission shows his support for the parliamentary process, including ensuring that the committee receives all necessary information to carry out its mandate effectively.

# Action Society says South Africa is facing a growing cold case problem, with serious murder and child abuse cases not moving forward. The organisation claims delays, forensic backlogs and poor communication are leaving families without answers for months or even years. Action Society’s Juanita du Preez calls on the police to act, and the matter will be escalated to national oversight bodies if progress is not made:

# The EFF in Gauteng has accused the Emfuleni Council speaker, Sibongile Soxuza, and the ANC of attempting to manipulate the outcome of the Adjustment Budget vote. The vote was conducted by a show of hands instead of a roll call yesterday, in violation of the Municipal Structures Act. The party says the Soxuza falsely declared the budget as passed, despite the ANC and its coalition partners lacking the required numbers to adopt it legally. The EFF says it will take all necessary steps to challenge this unlawful voting process.

# Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has described the regimes in Russia and Iran as “brothers in hatred”, saying these regimes must never be allowed to win in anything. He addressed the UK Parliament on Tuesday, as part of his tour of European capitals to shore up more support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Zelensky said his country’s bitter experience had resulted in expertise in combating drone warfare, which was now being offered to help countries in the Middle East:

# Soccer: The Confederation of African Football’s appeal board has declared Morocco the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations champions, overturning Senegal’s 1-0 victory in the final on 18 January. Senegalese players walked off the pitch in protest at hosts Morocco being awarded a stoppage-time penalty. The players eventually returned, and Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved before Senegal’s Pape Gueye scored an extra-time winner. In a ruling, CAF says Senegal is declared to have forfeited the match, with the result of the match being recorded as 3-0 in favour of Morocco.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-67-cents and the euro at 19-rand-23-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-26-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 74-thousand-340-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-993-dollars-44-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 99-dollars-34-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….