News 13:00

BULLETIN 15 March 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The FF Plus says America draws a line in the sand with Rasool and South Africa
# Eskom reaches 16.76-billion-rand in diesel savings
# And soccer: Rashford, Henderson have been recalled to the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers

 # The Freedom Front Plus says America clearly drew a final line in the sand when it unceremoniously kicked South Africa’s ambassador to America, Ebrahim Rasool, out of the country. US secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Rasool is persona non grata. The FF Plus’ Corné Mulder says it is astonishing that Rasool was sent to America as an ambassador in the first place, given his media image as a sympathizer with terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Hezbollah and his feeling towards Israel:

 AfriForum says in its reaction Rubio’s announcement regarding Rasool is proof that the ANC’s diplomatic gamble is failing and will cost the country and its people dearly. AfriForum CEO, Kallie Kriel emphasises that the ANC leaders and Rasool, as deployed cadre, must accept direct responsibility for the diplomatic blunder:

# Eskom says it has reached 16.76-billion-rand in diesel savings year-to-date. This reflects actual spend which is 52.9-percent less than the 31.69-billion-rand spent during the same period last year. Eskom spokesperson, Daphne Mokwena says year-to-date Eskom spent approximately 14.93-billion-rand on fuel for the open cycle gas turbines fleet which is below budget, generating over two-thousand-gigawatt-hour:

# eThekwini Municipality’s Disaster Management and Emergency teams are on high alert as heavy and persistent rains continues in KwaZulu-Natal. The South African Weather Services issued a yellow level 4 warning for severe thunderstorms in some parts of the province today. The municipality’s spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana says the metro’s Disaster Management and Emergency teams are assessing the damage caused by the severe heavy rains experienced in the city since Thursday:

# And soccer: England coach Thomas Tuchel says Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson are contenders for England’s 2026 World Cup squad after earning recalls in his first squad. Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly and Newcastle defender Dan Burn were handed their maiden call-ups for Tuchel’s first matches in charge in World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia. England have turned to the former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain coach in a bid to win a first major tournament since 1966 after losing the last two European Championship finals under Gareth Southgate.

Stay tuned for more news………….