News 15:00

BULLETIN 10 April 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Transport minister confirms the end of Gauteng’s e-tolls
# The Referendum Party says Mashatile’s remarks on Western Cape independence are not surprising
# And, golf: Defending champion Rahm is paired with Fitzpatrick and Dunlap for the Masters

# Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga has announced the end of e-tolls in Gauteng and that motorists won’t pay e-tolls from Friday. She says the provincial government will repurpose e-toll infrastructure, keeping cameras for road safety and crime recording. It’s uncertain if e-toll debt will be written off. She also cautioned that motorists seeking e-tags post-shutdown may pay outstanding accounts. She explained that e-tags will still work at toll plazas:

# The Referendum Party says recent comments made by deputy president Paul Mashatile on independence for the Western Cape are disappointing, but not surprising. He told residents of Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay, Cape Town, the province will never be independent. Referendum Party leader, Phil Craig, says it is for precisely this reason that the province must break away from South Africa and allow its people to create an ideological homeland, which is governed per the democratic will of the Western Cape majority:

# An article on the DA’s website has ignited debate over visits by members of Parliament Glynnis Breytenbach and Janho Engelbrecht to the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court and the High Court. The visits reportedly occurred without prior notification to judge president Dunstan Mlambo. The article claimed empty courtrooms resulting in case backlogs, while failing to mention the ongoing recess until coming Monday. Mlambo has criticised the dissemination of incomplete information and unsupported narratives by people of influence.

# Golf: Defending champion Jon Rahm has been grouped with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and American Nick Dunlap for the 88th Masters starting at Augusta National in Georgia tomorrow. The Spaniard is bidding to become the first back-to-back winner since 15-time Major champion Tiger Woods, who returns to action for the first time since February. The American will tee off with compatriot Max Homa and Australian Jason Day. World number one Scottie Scheffler of the US is paired with compatriot Xander Schauffele and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-51-cents and the euro at 20-rand-11-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-50-cents and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-991-dollars-98-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-346-dollars-30-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 89-dollars-88-cents a barrel.

# And finally, the widow of the late Chris Hani, Limpho (Diempoe), has criticised the current government, stating that it has failed her husband and the people. He was murdered on this day 31 years ago. Hani lamented the lack of political will to address the country’s challenges, slamming the need for stage 16 load-shedding. She also criticised Eskom’s lack of planning, citing the hefty expenditure of 35-billion-rand on diesel. At the Chris Hani commemoration in Ekurhuleni, she expressed her lifelong loyalty to the ANC:

Stay tuned for more news………….