News 11:00

BULLETIN 11 March 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The American ambassador to South Africa says the “Kill The Boer” chant is hate speech
# The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Department says there is no immediate risk of fuel shortages in South Africa
# And tennis: Sinner and Sabalenka are through to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells

# US ambassador to South Africa, Leo Brent Bozell, is demanding government action on rural safety and condemnation of rhetoric that glorifies hatred, singling out the “Kill The Boer” chant. Last year, the Constitutional Court ruled against AfriForum’s appeal after the Supreme Court of Appeal found the chant wasn’t hate speech. Bozell told the BizNews conference in Hermanus the US is running out of patience with the South African government:

Meanwhile, the EFF is calling for Bozell to be expelled and immediately declared persona non grata. The party says the US has no say in what constitutes South Africa’s domestic and foreign policy agenda. It adds Bozell’s comments warrant expulsion as he has expressed contempt for the country and the judiciary.

# The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources says South Africa currently faces no immediate risk of fuel shortages in the midst of the Middle Eastern conflict. South Africa has two operational crude oil refineries, Natref and Astron Energy, as well as Sasol’s Secunda coal-to-liquids plant, which continues to play a key role in domestic fuel production. Spokesperson Lerato Ntsoko says persistent geopolitical tensions could place pressure on international oil prices, but the country’s fuel supply remains stable for now:

# ActionSA has rejected the Ekurhuleni metro in Gauteng’s 2025/2026 adjusted budget, saying it disregards the pressing service delivery needs of residents. The adjustment budget approved by the council increases the metro’s operating revenue by 829.9-million-rand to 66.3-billion-rand, while operating expenditure increases to 65.6-billion-rand. ActionSA’s Tumelo Tshabalala says the budget has failed to demonstrate a clear plan to address Ekurhuleni’s crippling financial crisis, risking further downgrade and instability:

# Tennis: World number two Jannik Sinner is through to the Indian Wells quarterfinals for the third time. The Italian battled past unseeded Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca and will next face American Learner Tien, who defeated Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Frenchman Arthur Fils knocked out ninth-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime to book a quarterfinal meeting with fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany. In the women’s draw, world number one, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, defeated Japan’s Naomi Osaka to reach the quarterfinals.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-24-cents and the euro at 18-rand-90-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-85-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-893-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-199-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 85-dollars-53-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….