News 11:00

BULLETIN 5 April 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# US pushes Afrikaner Act for South African Afrikaner refugees
# Eskom warns power system remains constrained
# And road running, Lesotho’s Khoarahlane Seutloali and South Africa’s Gerda Steyn claim victory in 2025 Two Oceans Marathon

# US congressman Troy Nehls has introduced the Afrikaner Act, aiming to grant Priority-2 refugee status to South African Afrikaners facing persecution. The bill includes their spouses, children, and parents. This follows US president Donals Trump condemning the Expropriation Act, allowing land seizure without compensation. Trump said the law was a human rights violation. Nehls says his bill gives Afrikaners a path to safety from government-backed racial discrimination.

# Civil society organisation Section27 remains concerned that some schools with pit toilets were overlooked in the Basic Education Department’s sanitation drive. This comes as Basic Education minister Siviwe Gwarube highlighted the importance of restoring children’s dignity with 93-percent progress recorded since 2018. Section27’s Pearl Nicodemus acknowledged progress to Newzroom Afrika but warns gaps remain, calling for urgent action to ensure safe sanitation for all learners:

# The African Transformation Movement and MK Party will host a rally at Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, Buffalo City today. ATM president Vuyo Zungula, national executive committee members, traditional leaders, faith-based groups, and activists will address pressing issues like VAT hikes, and violence. ATM national spokesperson Zama Ntshona says the rally aims to unite progressive forces to inspire collective action for a better South Africa:

# Eskom has cautioned that the power system remains constrained due to increased planned maintenance and high electricity demand caused by nationwide overcast weather. Eskom Spokesperson Daphne Mokoena says despite this, load-shedding remains suspended as the grid remains stable with emergency reserves in place. Mokoena says that three-thousand-300-MegaWatts will return to service by Monday evening. In addition, diesel spend dropped 49.5-percent year-on-year, and unplanned outages are down.

# Road running: Lesotho’s Khoarahlane Seutloali has stormed to victory in the 2025 Two Oceans Marathon, crossing the finish line at the University of Cape Town’s rugby fields in a commanding performance this morning. Seutloali, who maintained a steady pace through the gruelling 56 kilometre Ultra route, became the first man from Lesotho to win the Two Oceans since 2015. His winning time was 3 hours, 10 minutes, and 46 seconds. Gerda Steyn has secured her sixth victory at the Two Oceans Marathon, crossing the finish line in a time of 3 hours, 29 minutes, and 9 seconds.

# And we end with rugby: The South African men’s sevens rugby side fell to an opening 38-10 defeat to Great Brittain in their first game in the Singapore Sevens, a result that could cost them dearly. Philip Snyman’s side were down to six men for most of the match after they lost Sebastiaan Job to a red card in the second minute. The two South African tries by Zain Davids and Dewald Human paled in comparison to the six tries and four conversions by the Great Brittain side. The Blitzboks are currently playing against Argentina.

Stay tuned for more news………….