News 16:00

BULLETIN 14 March 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The multiple murderer Enoch Ndou is sentenced to life for the Christmas Day murders
# Motorsport: Lewis Hamilton finds his first day in a Ferrari completely different
# And the gold price soars to above three-thousand-dollar per fine ounce for the very first time

# The Thoyondou High Court sitting at Waterval Magistrate’s Court in Limpopo has sentenced multiple murderer Enoch Ndou to life imprisonment for killing seven relatives. He shot them execution-style in Malamulele on Christmas Day four years ago over an inheritance dispute. Ndou became emotional as his sentence was read. Judge Thogomelani Tshidada says severe punishment was necessary:

# Statistics South Africa reports that mining production decreased by 2.7-percent in January compared to last year. The largest negative contributors were iron ore, platinum group metals, and coal, with significant drops in output. Mineral sales were down by six-percent, mainly due to gold and chromium ore. Stats SA’s Juan-Pierre Terblanche says manganese ore saw a notable increase of 21-percent:

# Business Against Crime South Africa is calling on businesses to use its extortion prevention programme under the Eyes and Ears Initiative. In partnership with police, the programme combats extortion in infrastructure and construction projects. It offers businesses direct access to law enforcement, enabling swift intervention. CEO Graham Wright says the initiative has successfully curbed extortion in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

# Motorsport: Lewis Hamilton says his first competitive day in a Ferrari had been completely different, but he is relishing trying to squeeze out more pace at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion officially began work at the Scuderia in January after his shock move from Mercedes after 12 years. While he completed 162 laps of testing in Bahrain, the Briton was in the Ferrari cockpit for the first time at a Grand Prix, finishing fifth in second practice after coming 12th in the opening session.

# And the gold price soared above three-thousand-dollars a fine ounce for the first time ever earlier today. Investors flocked to the asset, seen as a safe-haven, amid uncertainty over the fallout of US tariffs. In morning deals, gold rose 2.94-percent, a day after it surpassed its late February record.

The dollar trades at 18-rand-14-cents and the euro at 19-rand-79-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-49-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-421-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-998-dollars-43-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-16-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….