News 12:00

BULLETIN 7 March 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA has completed the IEC processes to be on the national and provincial ballots 
# Ekurhuleni commuters are left stranded amid a taxi strike 
# And tennis: Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Indian Wells

# ActionSA says it has concluded all its filings with the Independent Electoral Commission to be on the national and provincial ballot papers across all nine provinces for the 29 May general election. The party says its election deposits have been paid in full. ActionSA’s national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, says their candidate lists submitted for the National Assembly and provincial legislatures have a combination of diversity, excellence, youth and experience:

# Commuters in Ekurhuleni have been urged to make alternative transport arrangements until further notice, amid a taxi strike. The strike has left commuters in Germiston, Katlehong, Tembisa, and other East Rand areas stranded since yesterday evening. The South African National Taxi Council’s Phaphama Zulu has cited government’s deployment of buses on taxi routes as the main reason for the strike action. He says talks with government are ongoing.

# The City of Tshwane’s mayoral committee member for Finance, Jacqui Uys, led officials on a disconnection drive to a Centurion shopping complex owing the city over 3.2-million-rand. This is part of the Tshwane-Ya-Tima campaign to recover outstanding debt of more than 23-billion-rand. Electricians found the property illegally reconnected, prompting another disconnection. Uys says the city will lay charges at the Lyttleton police station for illegal electricity reconnection and infrastructure tampering:

# Tennis: Three-time champion, Rafael Nadal, has withdrawn from Indian Wells, saying he is not ready to play at the highest level. The 37-year-old Spaniard who returned to competition in Brisbane in January, after almost a year sidelined with a hip injury, says making this decision was not easy. Nadal, who was set to play Canadian Milos Raonic in the first round has been replaced by lucky loser Sumit Nagal, becoming the first Indian in the main draw of an ATP Masters one-thousand event since Prajnesh Gunneswaran in Miami in 2019.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-79-cents and the euro at 20-rand-46-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-846-dollars-26-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-157-dollars-29-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-74-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The board of Business Unity South Africa has announced the appointment of Khulekani Mathe as CEO, effective January 2025, succeeding retiring CEO Cas Coovadia. Mathe, who joined as deputy CEO in February 2023, played a key role in addressing transport and logistics challenges. Busa president Mxolisi Mgojo praised Coovadia for his leadership during challenging times, highlighting his efforts in partnering with government to tackle national issues. The board expressed confidence in Mathe’s ability to lead.

Stay tuned for more news………….