News 13:00

BULLETIN 16 April 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ACDP defends its MP’s trip to Israel
# The North West Health Department will begin with pauper funerals for unclaimed Stilfontein miners
# And soccer: Conmebol’s proposal for a 64-team World Cup in 2030 meets opposition

# The ACDP has defended its member of Parliament, Steve Swart’s recent trip to Israel, calling it a legitimate fact-finding mission approved by the party. They rejected criticism from the ANC and the GOOD Party, affirming the right of Christian believers to visit the Holy Land. Party leader, Kenneth Meshoe, reiterates ACDP’s condemnation of Hamas’  October 7 attacks and defends Israel’s right to self-defence:

# The North West Health Department says it will have no choice but to hold pauper burials for unclaimed bodies of Stilfontein illegal miners. The department’s spokesperson, Tshegofatso Mothibedi, told SABC News that only 12 of the 78 bodies recovered from Shaft 11 have been positively identified by families. He also confirmed that DNA samples have been collected from all bodies:

# KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements, Siboniso Duma, says teams are on standby as rain and snowfall are expected in the province. The South African Weather Service has forecast a cold front that will result in temperatures dropping, heavy rainfall and possible snowfall. The department’s spokesperson, Ndabezinhle Sibiya, says while the Weather Service has not suggested the province will be blanketed in snow, motorists are requested to monitor weather reports and exercise caution:

# Soccer: Several governing bodies disagree with South American federation Conmebol over extending the 2030 men’s World Cup to 64 teams. North and Central America and Caribbean governing body Concacaf, Europe’s UEFA and Asia’s AFC are against the proposal. They say they haven’t even kicked off next year’s tournament in Northern America, which will be expanded from 32 to 48 teams. World body Fifa will discuss Conmebol’s proposal next month. The 2030 tournament will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with some matches being played in South America.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-91-cents and the euro at 21-rand-50-cents. One British pound costs 25-rand-13-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-815-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-307-dollars-31-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-72-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Government marked Indigenous Tree Day by planting over 100 indigenous trees across national botanical gardens. Last year, the inaugural Indigenous Tree Day saw thousands of participants gather at 26 sites across 12 African countries. Led by the South African National Biodiversity Institute, the initiative forms part of a continent-wide effort to conserve locally adapted, threatened, and fruit-bearing species. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has set an ambitious target to plant one million trees this year.

Stay tuned for more news………….