News 13:00

BULLETIN 15 April 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA challenges the leaders of the four largest parties to undergo lifestyle audits
# Over nine-thousand-300 jobs were supported over the Western Cape summer tourism season to date
# And the Olympic flame starts its journey to Paris from Olympia in Greece today

# ActionSA says it has asked the leaders of the four largest political parties represented in the National Assembly – the ANC, DA, EFF and IFP – to agree to undergo voluntary lifestyle audits within 14 days. The party’s leader, Herman Mashaba, says an independent forensics expert, Paul O’Sullivan, has already agreed to conduct the audits at an approximate cost of five-thousand to ten-thousand-rand, which ActionSA has offered to pay:

# Preliminary figures from December last year to February this year indicate the arrival of 466-thousand-469 international passengers at Cape Town International Airport. This supported just over nine-thousand-300 jobs across the Western Cape. MEC of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, says it is clear that the province is a world-class tourism destination, being home to some of the best brandy, wines, food, and olive oil in the world:

# The Gauteng Health Department says in a bid to ensure that adults on antiretroviral therapy remain on treatment, it has put strategies in place to achieve its set target of 70-percent in the third quarter. The strategies include case management of newly diagnosed patients and education on the importance of adhering to treatment. The department’s acting head, Khutso Rabothata, says they have implemented multi-month medicine dispensing on all clinically stable patients to receive two-to-three months’ supply of ART drugs:

# Olympics: The Olympic flame is being lit in Greece today before the start of its journey to France for this year’s Games in Paris. The flame will be lit at the birthplace of the ancient Games, Olympia, and carried to several tourist destinations in Greece. It will be handed to the organisers of the Games at the site of the first modern Games in Athens in 1896 next Friday, and then taken on board a 19th Century vessel for the journey to France.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-94-cents and the euro at 20-rand-19-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-65-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-712-dollars-3-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-348-dollars-69-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 89-dollars-56-cents a barrel.

# And finally: South African artists over 18 years old who have not yet had a solo exhibition are urged to enter the Sasol New Signatures Art Competition. The theme for this year is Articulate, celebrating the universal human desire for self-expression and connection. Competition chairperson, Pfunzo Sidogi, says artists are invited to submit artworks crafted using unique styles and unconventional techniques that defy traditional boundaries and expectations.

Stay tuned for more news………….