News 09:00

BULLETIN 31 March 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Kubayi opens a criminal case over the Mashatile claims
# Cosatu says the 23 trafficked South Africans point to a need for job creation
# And tennis: Jakub Mensik and Aryna Sabalenka are the Miami Open champions

# Justice and Constitutional Development minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, has opened a criminal case against an individual who claimed that she authorised the prosecution of deputy president Paul Mashatile. This follows a weekend newspaper report purporting she, president Cyril Ramaphosa and minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, were conniving with the National Prosecuting Authority to have Mashatile prosecuted. Kubayi says she condemns this malicious and orchestrated smear campaign, which seeks to create division and pit her against Mashatile:

# The Congress of South African Trade Unions has welcomed the 23 South Africans rescued from Myanmar. They were lured by fake job offers, held in appalling conditions, forced to scam people, and faced violence if they resisted. The rescue mission was conducted as part of a bilateral cooperation agreement between South Africa and Thailand, focusing on combating human trafficking and transnational organised crime. Cosatu’s spokesperson, Zanele Sabela, says this must serve as an urgent sign for government to create more jobs:

# The Freedom Front Plus in Tshwane says the rising levels of crime at healthcare clinics in the metro have a detrimental impact on service delivery to residents. The annual report for the 2023/2024 financial year shows that several clinics were targeted by criminals with insurance claims amounting to over 31-million-rand. FF Plus’, Rina Marx, says they attribute the rising crime levels at healthcare clinics to poor, or sometimes absent, security measures:

# The Department of International Relations and Cooperation is calling on all stakeholders in South Sudan to prioritise a peaceful resolution to the current crisis. The detention of First Vice-President, Riek Machar, last week effectively collapsed the 2018 peace deal that ended the country’s five-year civil war. The department is also urging all parties to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, to create the necessary conditions for the effective implementation of the agreement.

# Tennis: Nineteen-year-old Jakub Mensik stunned six-time champion Novak Djokovic to win the Miami Open, his first ATP Tour title. The Czech, who is the second-youngest winner in the tournament’s history behind Carlos Alcaraz, defeated the Serb, 7-6, 7-6. Thirty-seven-year-old Djokovic was aiming for his 100th tour-level title of his career. Meanwhile, in the women’s final on Saturday, world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus claimed her second title of the year by beating American Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 6-2.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-41-cents and the euro at 19-rand-95-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 81-thousand-509-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-111-dollars-24-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-37-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….