News 09:00

BULLETIN 18 March 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC accuses the MK Party of leeching on the popularity of its disbanded military wing
# Rwanda cuts diplomatic ties and gives Belgium 48 hours to leave Kigali
# And boxing: The Olympic Committee includes the sport in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

# The ANC says the MK party played no role in the country’s struggle for liberation, but it wants to leech on the popularity of its disbanded military wing to deceive voters. This is the argument the ANC has put forward at the Supreme Court of Appeal. The party is appealing the KwaZulu-Natal High Court judgment after it failed to have the MK Party cease from continuing with the use of the name and logo. The ANC says the MK Party has infringed on its rights under the Trade Marks Act.

# The Public Servants Association of South Africa says it acknowledges that significant progress has been made in eradicating pit toilets. Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, revealed last week that the Sanitation Appropriate for Education initiative has successfully eradicated over 93-percent of identified pit toilets in public schools across the country. PSA’s, Claude Naiker, says it is concerned that the department will miss the March 31st deadline to eradicate unsafe sanitation in schools:

# The GOOD Party in Johannesburg has expressed concern at the 335-million-rand allegedly wasted on inflated prices for cleaning equipment and failed maintenance and infrastructure projects by City Power. An internal City Power memorandum revealed that the entity’s CEO Tshifularo Mashava, knew its maintenance budget was being defrauded. The alleged fraud occurred between May and October 2023. GOOD’s, Matthew Cook, says City Power must conduct an investigation, while simultaneously doing a strict vetting process of their supply chain:

# Rwanda has ended diplomatic ties with Belgium, accusing it of undermining Kigali during the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Belgium has led calls for European sanctions against Rwanda over its alleged support for the M23 rebel group. Kigali has denied involvement and given Belgian diplomats 48 hours to leave. Belgium called the decision disproportionate and will expel Rwandan diplomats in response. The UN has urged Rwanda to withdraw its troops from the DRC.

# Boxing: The sport is set to be among the sports at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after a new governing body was selected. International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach says the IOC’s Executive Board approved including boxing after his organisation recognised World Boxing to oversee the sport at the Olympics, ending years of divisions over the way the sport is run. The decision still needs to be rubber-stamped by a full IOC Session of about 100 members later this week, but that is expected to be a formality.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-10-cents and the euro at 19-rand-75-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-48-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-145-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-13-dollars-8-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-92-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….