News 09:00

BULLETIN 14 March 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Public Protector welcomes additional funding
# Nine members of Parliament are fined for failing to declare their financial interests
# And France says it will retaliate against Trump’s tariffs

# The Office of the Public Protector South Africa has welcomed an additional 73-million-rand allocation over the next three years, saying the funds will help strengthen its investigative capacity. The funding was included in Finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget speech, which he delivered on Wednesday. The Public Protector’s spokesperson, Khulu Phasiwe, says the additional funds will also go a long way in alleviating the budget constraints, which negatively impacted the institution’s ability to discharge its constitutional mandate effectively:

# Parliament’s Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests has resolved to reprimand nine members of Parliament and impose fines. This is for their failure to declare their financial and registrable interests by the due date of the 14th of October 2024. The fines imposed range from ten-thousand-rand to 12-thousand-500-rand. The committee says it is committed to ensuring the accountability of all members of Parliament, as the disclosure process facilitates the building of the public’s trust in the institution.

# Police rescued a 55-year-old Pakistani businessman in Evaton and arrested four kidnappers, including two former policemen, in different locations in Gauteng on Thursday. The man was kidnapped from his home in Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape, early last month, by a group of people who had introduced themselves to him as immigration officials. Police spokesperson, Amanda van Wyk, says the victim allegedly accompanied these individuals to the nearest police station but never returned home:

# France will fight back against any US tariffs on alcohol from the European Union. Foreign Trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin says they will not give in to threats after US president Donald Trump threatened to impose 200-percent tariffs on wine, champagne and other alcoholic products from France and other EU countries. The French association representing wine and spirits exporters says their interests are being sacrificed after the European Commission, which handles trade issues on behalf of member countries, imposed levies on US-produced whiskey.

# Soccer: Manchester United are through to the Europa League quarterfinals after beating Real Sociedad at Old Trafford. Ruben Amorim’s side came from behind to beat Real Sociedad 4-1 and 5-2 on aggregate, thanks to captain Bruno Fernandes’s hat-trick and Diogo Dalot’s late goal. United will play Lyon in the last eight. Tottenham Hotspur overcame a first-leg deficit to beat AZ Alkmaar 3-1. Rangers, Athletic Club and Lazio are also through to the quarterfinals. Amorim was full of praise for Fernandes:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-30-cents and the euro at 19-rand-84-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-67-cents and Bitcoin trades at 82-thousand-and-8-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-991-dollars-81-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….