News 15:00

BULLETIN 26 March 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ministers Steenhuisen, Mchunu and Godongwana are under fire for ignoring parliamentary questions
# NSFAS urges student accommodation providers with outstanding payments to not evict students
# And soccer: Bafana Bafana could lose its World Cup qualifying points for fielding an ineligible player against Lesotho

# Several ministers, including Police minister Senzo Mchunu, Finance minister Enoch Godongwana, and DA leader and Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen, are under fire for failing to answer parliamentary questions. A report by Parliament shows that 222 out of 783 questions remain unanswered. Mchunu ignored 47 of the 74 questions directed at him, Godongwana missed 15 out of 30, and Steenhuisen responded to just six out of 17. The EFF condemned the ministers for undermining oversight, and called for salary deductions and public reprimands.

# The National Student Financial Aid Scheme says it is deeply concerned about reports of some landlords threatening to evict students, whilst it’s engaged in discussions to find amicable solutions for accommodation payments. Spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi says the scheme is therefore appealing to landlords with outstanding payments not to evict students because NSFAS is committed to resolving all legitimate claims. He says it is essential to consider the impact of evictions on both students and landlords:

# Teacher’s union Sadtu is calling on the Department of Basic Education to strengthen security measures at schools to prevent kidnapping and attacks on teachers, as schools are increasingly becoming soft targets for criminals. A 45-year-old female teacher at Happydale Special School in Algoa Park, Gqeberha, was forcibly taken by three men at the school’s parking lot as she parked her car. Sadtu’s pokesperson, Nomusa Cembi, says schools must remain sanctuaries of education and development:

# Soccer: Bafana Bafana’s five-point lead on top of its African World Cup qualifying group could be reduced after it fielded an ineligible player against Lesotho last week. Teboho Mokoena had accumulated two yellow cards, triggering an automatic one-match ban. Governing body Safa admitted he was cautioned in a match against Benin in 2023, and again against Zimbabwe last year. But world body Fifa’s rules state that the opposition has to lodge a complaint within 24-hours after the end of the match, and Lesotho apparently failed to do that.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-24-cents and the euro at 19-rand-68-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-53-cents and Bitcoin trades at 88-thousand-236-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-28-dollars-and-20-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-1-cent a barrel.

# And finally: South Africa topped a new global real estate transparency index but still faces challenges in its fight against money laundering. The Opacity in Real Estate Ownership Index, released by Transparency International and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective, shows South Africa performs well in regulating real estate transactions. However, access to property records remains limited. Meanwhile, countries like the US, Australia, and South Korea ranked poorly due to weak regulations. Transparency International urges stronger global reforms to close loopholes and prevent dirty money from flowing into property markets.

Stay tuned for more news………….