News 15:00

BULLETIN 17 March 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa commits ten-billion-rand to early childhood development over the next three years
# The Freedom Front Plus says syndicates are destroying Tshwane’s power infrastructure
# And cricket: A maiden Cricket South Africa contract for the young Proteas women’s player Annerie Dercksen

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says government has pledged to invest ten-billion-rand in early childhood development over the next three-years, with a focus on universal access. The funding will support ECD centres and improve foundation skills for young children. In his keynote address at the Bana Pele summit in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa urged businesses, government, and civil society to work together to expand access to quality early learning:

# KwaZulu-Natal premier Thamsanqa Ntuli says the ongoing severe weather conditions have caused significant damage, displacing families and affecting infrastructure. The provincial government is working closely with disaster management teams and relevant stakeholders to ensure immediate relief efforts, including emergency shelter, food, and medical assistance for those impacted. Ntuli says the government need more funds to fix infrastructure that was damaged by the floods:

# The Freedom Front Plus in Tshwane says more needs to be done to protect the metro’s power infrastructure. Cable thieves have recently been targeting neighbourhoods in Pretoria Moot, leaving households without electricity for days. The areas worst affected are Rietfontein, Gezina, Capital Park and Wonderboom South. The FF Plus’s Mari Joubert says cable thieves have lately turned their focus to overhead power cables:

# Cricket: The International Cricket Council’s emerging women’s player of the year, Annerie Dercksen, has earned her maiden national contract with Cricket South Africa. The 23-year-old replaces Lara Goodall and Delmi Tucker on the list of 15 contracted players. Among the other players contracted for the 2025/’26 season are captain Laura Wolvaardt, Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta, Ayabonga Khaka, Suné Luus and Anneke Bosch. The Proteas women are gearing up for an important year, culminating in die One-day World Cup starting in India in October.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-11-cents and the euro at 19-rand-75-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-49-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-513-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-dollar-74-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-14-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Standard Bank South Africa’s CEO and deputy group CEO, Kenny Fihla, has resigned after 18 years of service. Fihla, who is on garden leave as of today, will take up the role of CEO and executive director of Absa Group and Absa Bank, effective from June 17. This is subject to regulatory approval. Standard Bank says it was fortunate to have been able to draw on Fihla’s unique combination of experience and wisdom in business, government, and the labour movement.

Stay tuned for more news………….