News 11:00

BULLETIN 4 March 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC’s top brass meets to finalise the election lists

# Nikki Haley wins the Republican presidential primary in Washington

# And rugby: France wins its first men’s Sevens title in 19 years

# The ANC’s top brass is set to meet at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Boksburg today to finalise the party’s election lists. The ruling party’s Integrity Commission has reportedly recommended that members named in the state capture commission report be excluded from election lists. Among the members named as having a case to answer for abuse of power, abrogation of duty, and alleged corruption include ministers Gwede Mantashe, Zizi Kodwa, and Khumbudzo Ntshavheni. Parties and independent candidates have until Friday to hand over their election lists.

# The National Student Financial Aid Scheme will give an update today as the registration period has officially closed for some universities. The update will include the registration process, payment of allowances and the student accommodation pilot project. The scheme has provided universities and colleges with more than three-billion-rand to cover the cost of registration and allowances for the first month of the academic year.

# Western Cape dam levels have surged to an average of almost 66-percent, a marked rise from approximately 49-percent this time last year. Despite this improvement, residents are urged to continue conserving water heading into the winter months. National Department of Water and Sanitation’s spokesperson, Malusi Rayi, says the unpredictability of climate change is affecting water conservation:

# Former South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, has won the Republican presidential primary in Washington, her first victory in the primaries against former president Donald Trump. She won 62.9-percent of the vote, versus 33.2-percent captured by Trump. Fifteen states will hold primaries tomorrow, in what is called Super Tuesday, in which the former president’s status as the Republican candidate is expected to be cemented. Haley’s campaign spokesperson, Olivia Perez-Cubas, says it is not surprising that Republicans in Washington rejected Trump and all his chaos.

# Rugby: France defeated Great Britain to win the World Sevens Series title in Los Angeles, their first title in 19 years. France secured the men’s gold medal with three unanswered tries in a 21-nil victory, with their only previous victory coming on home soil in Paris back in 2005 and having lost all six finals they have contested since then. Player of the final, Stephen Parez, says winning bronze in Canada last week, and gold this week is amazing:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-10-cents and the euro at 20-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-21-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-646-dollars-73-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-84-dollars-68-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 83-dollars-46-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….