News 11:00

BULLETIN 19 April 11 am

Good morning/afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A political analyst says Ramaphosa’s time in office appears limited
# Iran downplays reports of a missile attack by Israel
# And motorsport: F1 is back in China after five years 

# Political analyst, Daniel Silke, says with a possible poor performance in next month’s general elections for the ANC, and president Cyril Ramaphosa’s populist opponents baying for his blood, his time in office appears limited. In an opinion piece for Business Day, Silke says should the ANC get below 50-percent support, Ramaphosa will ultimately be blamed. He says Ramaphosa will either have to bite the bullet on a pragmatic centrist deal or flounder with more radical political bedfellows, like the EFF, that makes no secret of wanting him out.

# ActionSA says South Africa’s investor environment and businesses continue to suffer due to the ANC’s economic policies, corruption, and gross government incompetence. Old Mutual chairperson and former Finance minister, Trevor Manuel, recently revealed that foreign investors have disinvested more than one-trillion-rand from South Africa over the past ten years. ActionSA’s Pieter Scribante says it is imperative to bring back foreign investments into the country, to jump-start the economy and spur job creation:

# Negotiations between rival Soweto taxi associations, Witwatersrand Taxi Association and the Nancefield Dube West Association, have once again reached a deadlock. Feuds over routes between the two associations have been going on for years. Gauteng Transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela says despite efforts from her department, the associations refuse to cooperate:

# Iran says there has been no missile attack on the country as yet. This follows reports that Israel carried out a limited military strike in Iran’s central province of Isfahan this morning. The province is home to sites associated with Iran’s nuclear programme. Iran’s National Centre of Cyberspace’s spokesperson, Hossein Dalirian, says Israel had only made a failed and humiliating attempt to attack with several drones, which were successfully shot down. He adds the nuclear facilities are safe and secure.

# Motorsport: Formula One returns to China for the first time in five years with a weekend that includes a sprint race tomorrow. With only an hour to practice before the sprint qualifying, several drivers have expressed concern about having limited practice on a resurfaced circuit, that is unknown to the current specifications of F1 cars. Shanghai debutant Oscar Piastri says his McLaren may struggle:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-16-cents and the euro at 20-rand-40-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-83-cents and Bitcoin trades at 64-thousand-740-dollars-50-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-391-dollars-15-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 87-dollars-98-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….