News 09:00

BULLETIN 29 April 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA says BHP’s offer for Anglo American is a slap in the face for the ANC’s mining policy
# The Health Department says it is currently the peak season for respiratory disease
# And Fikile Mbalula is optimistic that the ANC will win in the Western Cape

# The DA says BHP’s offer to buy Anglo American shows how ANC governance has diminished South African mining. The Australian mining giant has proposed an all-share takeover of Anglo-American that values it at about 740-billion-rand. Anglo American has rejected the offer, saying the opportunistic proposal significantly undervalues the company. The DA’s, James Lorimer, says BHP’s attitude reflects how mining companies and mining investors worldwide view the way the ANC has made doing business in South Africa extremely difficult:

# The Department of Health says the respiratory syncytial virus is currently at peak circulation in the country, while influenza virus infections are starting to increase. This as the winter season is approaching. The department’s spokesperson, Foster Mohale, says the RSV virus causes illness mainly in young children but also contributes to respiratory illness in older individuals. He says people are encouraged to get the flu vaccine:

# ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula believes the ruling party can oust the DA from power in the Western Cape in next month’s general elections. He campaigned in Cape Town’s biggest township of Khayelitsha, Worcester, and Paarl in the Boland at the weekend. In 2019, the ANC mustered only 28-percent of the vote in the province it lost control over in 2009. Mbalula says the ANC is in a position to work for an outright majority in the province:

# The World Central Kitchen says it will resume distributing food in Gaza, as the humanitarian situation remains dire. The aid organisation suspended operations earlier this month, after seven of its workers were killed when their convoy was attacked from the air by an Israeli drone. The World Central Kitchen says it has 276 trucks with eight million meals ready to enter through the Rafah crossing. It adds that its work in Gaza has been the most life-saving mission in the organisation’s 14-year history.

# Tennis: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is through to the last 16 of the Madrid Open, as he seeks to win the title for a record third consecutive year. The Spaniard defeated Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild, 6-3, 6-3, to set up a meeting with Germany’s 23rd seed Jan-Lennard Struff, a repeat of last year’s final. American Taylor Fritz is through to the Madrid Open fourth round for the second straight year, beating Argentina’s Sebastian Baez, 6-2, 6-3. There were also wins for Russia’s Andrey Rublev and Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-74-cents and the euro at 20-rand-10-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-50-cents and Bitcoin trades at 62-thousand-498-dollars-71-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-330-dollars-62-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-49-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….