News 14:00

BULLETIN 6 March 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The National Financial Ombud Scheme has recovered 416-million-rand for consumers
# The Campaign for Free Expression condemns the treason allegations against Afriforum and Solidarity
# And soccer: The final of the 2026 World Cup will feature a half-time show like the Super Bowl’s

# The National Financial Ombud Scheme says since its inception in March last year, it has dealt with 40-thousand-859 cases and recovered 416-million-rand. The scheme is the result of a merger of four ombud agencies, providing a single platform for resolving complaints and disputes in South Africa’s financial services sector. NFO head, Reana Steyn, says they have helped provide a vital safety net to those affected by maladministration, disputes, or financial loss:

# The Campaign for Free Expression has criticised recent statements by officials linking AfriForum and Solidarity to treason. This follows Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya’s announcement of an investigation linked to treason charges. The lobby group argues that such claims are irresponsible and inconsistent with constitutional values. It warns that criminalising speech, even if provocative, undermines freedom of expression. While disagreeing with AfriForum’s narrative, the organisation believes pursuing treason charges would only reinforce their claims. It calls for open dialogue over heavy-handed legal action in addressing differing viewpoints in South Africa.

# The City of Cape Town is opening its electricity grid to private electricity sales and trading. Over 562-thousand-800 kilowatt-hours of power have already been generated and wheeled across the metro’s grid between private sector energy traders during the pilot phase. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says they will now promote the scaling up of power trading across the electricity grid between qualifying private sellers based on bilateral and multi-lateral trading agreements:

# Soccer: The final of next year’s World Cup in North America will feature a half-time show like America’s Super Bowl’s for the first time. World governing body Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, says a list of artists will perform in the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in the United States, who will host the tournament together with Canada and Mexico. He promises it will be a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world. The tournament runs from the 11th of June until the 19th of July.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-36-cents and the euro at 19-rand-81-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-63-cents and Bitcoin trades at 91-thousand-310-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-898-dollars-47-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 69-dollars-40-cents a barrel.

# And finally: University of the Western Cape professor Admire Dube is investigating a new approach to treating tuberculosis using specially designed nanoparticles. He led a team comprising researchers from Stellenbosch University, the University of Cape Town, and the University of Buffalo in the USA. Dube says they infected mice with Mycobacterium tuberculosis to model an infection and they were treated with the nanoparticles over six weeks. He says throughout the treatment, they checked the mice’s lungs and immune response:

Stay tuned for more news………….