News 11:00

BULLETIN 24 March 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Tau says hostile geopolitical developments won’t undermine the South Africa Investment Conference
# Minister Gwarube is aware of the alleged “jobs-for-comrades” scheme within her department
# And cricket: England’s coach Brendon McCullum keeps his job following a review of the Ashes

# Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, says geopolitical developments won’t undermine the upcoming sixth edition of the South Africa Investment Conference. Conflict in the Middle East has grounded some of the conference’s most anticipated delegations, with some announcements at the conference expected to be live-streamed. An estimated one-thousand-250 delegates are expected to attend in person. Tau says they acknowledge the reality that the impact of the war is likely to have on investment decisions going forward:

# The Department of Basic Education says minister Siviwe Gwarube has been made aware of allegations suggesting regular engagements between certain department officials and ANC politicians outside proper formal channels. According to News24, a whistleblower dossier has exposed an alleged “jobs-for-comrades” scheme. According to the dossier, officials within the human resources department allegedly leaked internal department documents to the ANC caucus in Parliament. Gwarube’s spokesperson, Lukhanyo Vangqa, says the minister has asked the Special Investigating Unit to conduct lifestyle audits of senior officials and those in identified risk areas.

# Union federation Cosatu has welcomed the Supreme Court of Appeal ruling ordering Eskom to disclose the details of multi-billion-rand supplier contracts. The court dismissed the power utility’s appeal with costs, upholding the Gauteng High Court’s order directing it to provide AfriForum with access to certain coal, diesel and transport contracts. Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says as a state-owned entity, Eskom is obliged to be transparent about its contracts:

# The death toll from the Colombian Air Force plane crash has risen to 66, while dozens have been injured. The US-made C-130 Hercules aircraft was taking off from Puerto Leguízamo, deep in Colombia’s southern Amazon region, when it crashed, carrying 114 army personnel and eleven crew members. The deceased include 58 soldiers, six air force personnel, and two police officers. President Gustavo Petro says this accident should not have happened. He blamed bureaucratic problems for holding up his plans to modernise the armed forces’ equipment and their aircraft.

# Cricket: England and Wales Cricket Board has backed the leadership team of head coach Brendon McCullum, captain Ben Stokes, and director of cricket Rob Key, following an internal Ashes review. England were outplayed in the Ashes, losing 4-1 against Australia. The Ashes was ruined by poor planning, substandard performances, and off-field issues, including accusations of a drinking culture within the England set-up. Key says the ECB concluded that sacking McCullum was not the right route to take:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-86-cents and the euro at 19-rand-54-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-61-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-731-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-409-dollars-91-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 98-dollars-70-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….