News 12:00

BULLETIN 31 March 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# No oil spill or injuries are reported after Iran attacked a fully loaded tanker in Dubai waters
# The City of Johannesburg warns government departments to pay up or be disconnected
# And rugby: The Springbok coach says the Nations Championship Tests against England, Scotland and Wales will be a challenge

# A fully loaded Kuwaiti-flagged Al-Salmi oil tanker was hit by an Iranian drone strike in Dubai waters early this morning. The vessel, loaded with two million barrels of oil, was on its way to China when it was attacked, leading to a fire breaking out. No oil leakage or injuries have been reported. This incident is the latest in a string of assaults on merchant vessels by missiles or explosive air and sea drones in the Persian Gulf since the US-Israeli war on Iran started last month.

Meanwhile, Johannesburg’s benchmark stock index is heading for its worst month in almost two decades, as the Iranian war saps demand for emerging-market assets while plunging precious-metal prices weigh on South Africa’s mining companies. The FTSE/JSE All Share Index was down 13-percent by Friday. Bloomberg data shows this is the most since the height of the global financial crisis in September 2008. The precious metals and mining sector, which accounts for a quarter of the index’s weighting, has tumbled 27-percent since the start of the Middle Eastern conflict.

# The City of Johannesburg has escalated its revenue collection efforts, warning of more aggressive, consistent, and frequent disconnections targeting high-value government department defaulters. The metro is trying to claw back debt of 1.4-billion-rand. Spokesperson Nkosana Lekotjolo says last week they disconnected the electricity supply to a building housing the Gauteng Department of Health and other provincial departments. He says the department has accrued a combined municipal debt exceeding 200-million-rand:

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says the inaugural Nations Championship Tests will be a thrilling challenge. The Boks start their campaign against England in Johannesburg on 4 July, before facing Scotland in Pretoria on 11 July, and Wales in Durban on 18 July. Erasmus says all three teams will draw inspiration from the fact that they come off a highly competitive Six Nations competition, while the Boks will only be beginning their season. He adds that they will need to hit the ground running to be as competitive as possible.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-6-cents and the euro at 19-rand-57-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-53-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-375-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-569-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 105-dollars-65-cents a barrel.

# And finally: ActionSA has launched its Citizens’ Support and Intervention Helpdesk, saying too many citizens are trapped in a system that does not respond, resolve, or care. The helpdesk will prioritise key intervention areas, including Home Affairs, Law Enforcement, Social Grants and Municipal Services. ActionSA’s Lerato Ngobeni says submissions received through the online portal will be assessed by the party’s parliamentary team and formally escalated to the relevant departments:

Stay tuned for more news………….