News 09:00

BULLETIN 11 April 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa will host the Ukrainian president on 24 April
# ActionSA says urgent interventions are needed to address the ongoing taxi violence
# And Donald Trump must repatriate a man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador

# President Cyril Ramaphosa will on 24 April host Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a working visit. The meeting, set to take place at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, will focus solely on the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Zelenskyy’s visit comes amid reports of strained relations between Ukraine and the US and rising global efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict, with South Africa maintaining its support for dialogue and diplomacy.

# The Institute of Race Relations says opposition parties rejecting the value-added tax increase proposed in the budget fiscal framework is a principled stand, but anti-enterprise policies must also be confronted. The institute has urged the EFF and MK Party to go beyond opposing the VAT hike by actively protecting poor communities from what amounts to a black economic empowerment tax. The IRR’s, Makone Maja, says slashing BEE requirements to shield marginalised communities from further economic harm is imperative:

# ActionSA in Gauteng has strongly condemned the ongoing taxi violence that has claimed 59 lives since January. A taxi marshal belonging to the Witwatersrand African Taxi Association was among three marshals who were shot and killed in Mofolo, in Soweto this week. ActionSA’s, John Moodey, says merely condemning these atrocious acts has failed in the past and will continue to fail unless the rule of law is enforced. He adds that the provincial government must take decisive steps to end this carnage:

# The US Supreme Court has ordered president Donald Trump’s administration to facilitate the return of a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a jail in El Salvador. The administration has conceded that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported due to an administrative error. He was deported on March 15th on one of three high-profile deportation flights to El Salvador that also included alleged Venezuelan gang members. The Trump administration warns that requiring it to effectuate the return of Abrego Garcia would violate separation of powers principles.

# Golf: England’s Justin Rose leads the Masters by three shots after the opening round at Augusta National in Georgia. The 44-year-old card a seven-under 65, giving him a commanding advantage over defending champion American Scottie Scheffer, Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg, and Corey Conners of Canada. Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy started his latest bid to complete the career Grand Slam with a level-par 72. Rose, who is playing the Masters for the 20th time, says his experience of the course helps:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-35-cents and the euro at 21-rand-90-cents. One British pound costs 25-rand-18-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-96-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-216-dollars-53-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-70-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….