News 11:00

BULLETIN 7 March 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Government says the world has an obligation to stop the suffering in Gaza
# The DA says minister Gordhan’s cover-up of the SAA-Takatso deal is concerning
# And tennis: Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Indian Wells

# The government says the world has an obligation to do whatever can be done to stop further suffering and loss of life in Gaza. It has again approached the International Court of Justice, with an urgent application for the provisional measures the court ordered against Israel in January, to be strengthened to prevent a catastrophic famine in the Gaza Strip. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, says the United Nations has warned that one in four people in Gaza are one step away from experiencing famine:

# The DA says it is disappointed by Parliament’s Legal Services’ decision to shield the South African Airways- Takatso Consortium deal from public scrutiny. Parliamentary legal adviser, Andile Tetyana, says the agreement signed in June 2021 must remain confidential as it is still a live transaction. The DA says it is simply unconscionable that after spending 38.1-billion-rand of taxpayers’ money bailing out SAA, with billions more still needed for recapitalisation, Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan still thinks citizens do not deserve to know the terms of the deal.

# The Freedom Front Plus says the adjustment budget of the ANC/EFF government in Ekurhuleni on the Gauteng East Rand was focused on canvassing for votes for the general elections, rather than on improving service delivery. The party’s Denise Janse van Rensburg says the adjustments made to some departmental budgets will not facilitate basic service delivery to residents who faithfully pay their municipal bills. She says it is clear the metro’s budget will not serve all residents:

# Tennis: Three-time champion, Rafael Nadal, has withdrawn from Indian Wells, saying he is not ready to play at the highest level. The 37-year-old Spaniard returned to competition in Brisbane in January, after almost a year sidelined with a hip injury. He says making this decision was not easy. Nadal, who was set to play Canadian Milos Raonic in the first round has been replaced by lucky loser Sumit Nagal. He becomes the first Indian in the main draw of an ATP Masters One-thousand event since Prajnesh Gunneswaran in Miami in 2019.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-84-cents and the euro at 20-rand-54-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-1-cent and Bitcoin trades at 65-thousand-881-dollars-95-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-155-dollars-49-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-88-cents a barrel.

# And finally, the Helderberg Academy of Theatre presents its third kid’s production in the form of Peter Pan at the Playhouse in Somerset West, Cape Town. Francois Retief leads the production as the often chaotic but always well-meaning Peter Pan himself, while Captain Hook is portrayed by Leizl Rice. Sheraine de Vries surprises in her interpretation of sassy punk chick Tinkerbell. The production, directed by Darryl Spijkers and narrated by Playhouse favourite Zané Habig, runs from today until the 16th of this month.

Stay tuned for more news………….