News 11:00

BULLETIN 2 April 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA calls on Parliament to reconsider the Tobacco Bill
# Business Leadership SA is concerned about the latest Integrated Resource Plan
# And swimming: Singapore’s Olympic golden boy, Joseph Schooling, retires

# The DA says it will continue to exert pressure on Parliament to reconsider the Tobacco Bill, as it fails to address the biggest problems with tobacco use. The bill seeks to impose enhanced regulations on the sale and advertising of traditional tobacco products, such as cigarettes and cigars. The DA’s Dion George says without eradicating the illicit tobacco trade by securing the supply chain from production to sale, the bill will mainly obstruct legal trade and have minimal effect on tobacco usage:

# Business Leadership South Africa says the latest Integrated Resource Plan is not fit for purpose and needs to be revised immediately. One of the concerns of the organisation is that the document presents some spurious costing estimates, that appear to elevate the price of renewable energy and underestimate the cost of fossil fuels. CEO Busisiwe Mavuso says the plan is but one example of bad policy, all of which mitigate against and delay economic growth and the reduction of unemployment. 

# The EFF in the Western Cape calls for the immediate removal of Knysna DA councillor Sharon Sabbagh. She is under fire for allegedly referring to a council meeting as a monkey circus last week. The DA says Sabbagh’s comments have been misconstrued and shamefully used to deflect voters’ attention from the destruction the ANC, PA, and EFF coalition caused in Knysna. The EFF says Sabbagh’s racist behaviour is unacceptable and should never be left unchallenged. The party intends to lodge a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission.

# Swimming: Singapore’s only Olympic gold medallist, Joseph Schooling, has announced his retirement, eight years after his success at the Rio Olympics. The 28-year-old won gold in the 100-meter butterfly in 2016 against a field studded with talent, including American legend Michael Phelps. Schooling says he is filled with gratitude for every experience that swimming has brought into his life. He says the victories were exhilarating, the defeats humbling, and together, they have forged a resilience in him that he will carry forward into his next chapter.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-91-cents and the euro at 20-rand-30-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-74-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-891-dollars-60-cents. Gold sells at twee-thousand-253-dollars-91-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 88-dollars-33-cents a barrel.

# And, finally: Taylor Swift, SZA, and Ice Spice were some of the big winners at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles. Swift won six awards including Artist of the Year, while SZA took home four awards including Song of the Year for her hit Kill Bill. Best New Pop Artist went to Jelly Roll and Miley Cyrus won Pop Song of the Year for Flowers. Beyoncé received the Innovator Award and her acceptance speech centred on the fortitude required to be an innovator:

Stay tuned for more news………….