News 09:00

BULLETIN 13 March 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Paul Mashatile says the rollout of Lenacapavir will be a game-changer
# Keir Starmer says he made a mistake in appointing Peter Mandelson
# And athletics: Armand Duplantis breaks the pole vault world record for a 15th time

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile has hailed South Africa’s upcoming rollout of Lenacapavir as a potential game-changer in the country’s efforts to prevent HIV infections. This is a new long-acting antiretroviral drug that is delivered by injection only twice a year, offering six months of continuous protection per dose. Mashatile says while progress has been made in expanding treatment and prevention services, challenges remain, particularly in treatment retention, prevention among young people, and the persistent burden of tuberculosis. The rollout of Lenacapavir will be around May this year. 

# Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, says governance failures at local government manifest directly in declining service delivery, including water interruptions, power outages, and waste management breakdowns. She addressed the Municipal Legal Practitioners’ Forum in Cape Town yesterday. Kubayi stated that it is important to empower municipal legal practitioners at a time when municipalities are facing serious challenges:

# The GOOD Party says the City of Johannesburg’s 2025/2026 adjustment operating budget raises several serious concerns about the financial direction of the metro. The budget failed to pass in council yesterday, with only 117 votes in favour out of the required 136. GOOD’s Matthew Cook says the concern is that the adjustment budget shows employee-related costs increasing by 1.35-billion-rand, while spending on contracted services is being reduced by more than one-billion-rand:

# British prime minister Keir Starmer says he made a mistake in appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US. A due diligence report on the appointment of Mandelson, released this week, found there was a general reputational risk over his relationship with the paedophile financier. The report suggests Mandelson was offered briefings about sensitive material from the Foreign Office before the formal vetting process was concluded. Starmer says he takes personal responsibility for the appointment:

# Athletics: World and Olympic champion, Mondo Duplantis, has broken the pole vault world record for the 15th time, at the Mondo Classic in Sweden. The 26-year-old US-born Swede cleared 6.31-meters on his first attempt, breaking the record he had previously set at the World Athletics Championship in September last year. Duplantis has increased the world record by a minimum of one centimetre on all 15 occasions he has broken it. He will have an opportunity to break the new world record at the World Indoor Championships in Poland next month.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-78-cents and the euro at 19-rand-30-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-37-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 71-thousand-388-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-103-dollars-16-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 97-dollars-70-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….