News 16:00

BULLETIN 26 March 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# More than 40 political parties appeal against the IEC’s deregistration notice
# The former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana claims charges against her put her life at risk
# And soccer: Bafana Bafana could lose its World Cup qualifying points for fielding an ineligible player against Lesotho

# The Electoral Commission has received over 40 submissions from political parties in response to its notice of cancellation for 192 inactive parties. These parties had failed to renew their registration by the 31 January deadline and are not represented in any legislative body. The commission’s David Mandaha says the IEC aims to keep its party register current, removing inactive parties to reduce voter confusion and allow active parties to claim unused names and logos:

# Former SAA board member Yakhe Kwinana told the East London Magistrate’s Court in the Eastern Cape that the extortion and property damage charges against her are endangering her life. She was previously arrested in Gauteng. Kwinana argues the allegations harm her reputation and could lead to her death, given South Africa’s extortion crisis. She is seeking bail of two-thousand-rand. Kwinana accused the National Prosecuting Authority of failing to conduct proper investigations, and stated her intention to plead not guilty:

# CapeNature says from October 2024 until the end of February this year, wildfires have scorched 32-thousand-187 hectares of land in the Western Cape. The Swartberg protected area accounted for about half of all hectares burned and was the worst-affected area. Since the start of October, the entity has spent more than 12-million-rand on combatting and preventing fires. Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC, Anton Bredell, says CapeNature is working on long-term strategies to improve fire management, which includes fuel load reduction.

# The Sudanese army has recaptured Khartoum airport from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Just south of central Khartoum, troops also surrounded the strategic Jebel Awliya area, the last large RSF stronghold in the Khartoum area, from the north, south and east. The military, at war with the RSF since April 2023, launched a campaign this week to push the paramilitary forces out of central Khartoum, after recapturing the presidential palace in a key victory on Friday. RSF fighters had been stationed inside the airport since the war began.

# 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.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-27-cents and the euro at 19-rand-70-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-55-cents and Bitcoin trades at 87-thousand-776-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-and-25-dollars-42-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-95-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….