News 15:00

BULLETIN 10 March 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Minister Schreiber urges the IEC to align its voting systems with Home Affairs’ digital transformation plans
# The DA demands clarity on Gauteng Health’s 7.1-billion-rand legal savings
# And cricket: England’s Harry Brook is at risk of a two-year ban from the IPL

# Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber has urged the Electoral Commission to adapt its systems to align with the department’s digital transformation efforts. Speaking at the IEC conference on electronic voting technologies in Cape Town, Schreiber outlined plans to expand smart identity cards, introduce digital IDs by 2029, and modernise the national population register. He says digital systems should simplify voting, improve efficiency, and strengthen public trust in elections:

# The DA in Gauteng wants answers from the Health Department on how it reduced medico-legal liabilities by 7.1-billion-rand. The department declared 803 cases dormant or archived under legal provisions. Many cases involve cerebral palsy claims requiring lifelong care. The DA’s Madeleine Hicklin has urged transparency, calling for a full list of affected cases. She advocates for a professional legal strategy to handle claims fairly and prevent fraud:

# Trade union Solidarity says the recently gazetted National Health Insurance regulations will have disastrous consequences for the healthcare system. The union argues that the regulations undermine medical professionals’ rights, threaten private healthcare, and will ultimately degrade service delivery. They maintain the NHI is unworkable and financially unsustainable. Solidarity’s Theuns du Buisson says board appointments for the NHI are futile, as there will never be enough money to fund the system:

# Cricket: England’s Harry Brook is facing a possible two-year ban from the Indian Premier League after withdrawing from this year’s tournament. This is the second consecutive year that he has pulled out before the start of the competition. The 26-year-old, who was signed by Delhi Capitals last year, says he needs time to recharge after the busiest period in his career to date. Brook is considered a frontrunner to replace Jos Buttler as England’s white-ball captain following their group-stage elimination at the Champions Trophy.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-28-cents and the euro at 19-rand-84-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-61-cents and Bitcoin trades at 82-thousand-456-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-899-dollars-70-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-44-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Actor Pierce Brosnan has said it is a given that the next James Bond should be British. In an interview with Sunday Telegraph, the former Bond also said he thought it was the right decision for the franchise’s long-standing producers to hand creative control to Amazon. The choice of Daniel Craig’s successor will be a decision for Amazon MGM Studios. The last film in the franchise, No Time To Die in 2021, was Craig’s last. Brosnan starred in four Bond films from 1995’s GoldenEye until 2002’s Die Another Day.

Stay tuned for more news………….