News 16:00

BULLETIN 7 March 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The DA files an urgent contempt of court application against the ANC’s Fikile Mbalula
# The City of Tshwane launches internal investigations against corrupt officials 
# And motorsport: Lando Norris expects the track in Jeddah will suit McLaren

# The DA vows to use all means to compel the ANC to obey the law and reveal its dirty cadre secrets. They launched an urgent contempt of court application in the High Court in Johannesburg against ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula for failing to comply with a Constitutional Court order. The ANC was ordered to hand over complete records related to its national cadre deployment committee since January 2013, when president Cyril Ramaphosa became chairperson. The DA’s Leon Schreiber demands compliance and transparency:

# The City of Tshwane will launch internal investigations into corrupt officials. Mayoral committee member for Finance, Jacqui Uys, made the announcement outside Lyttleton Police Station. She opened a criminal case against Lyttleton Shopping Centre’s owners for tampering and the illegal reconnection of power. Uys says the investigations is to curb corruption among its officials:

# South African Airways has confirmed that its seasonal route to Gqeberha will become permanent starting from April. The airline plans to operate two daily return flights between Johannesburg and the Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport in Gqeberha. This decision follows the success of the first seasonal flight from Johannesburg to Gqeberha, which took off in December. SAA aims to expand its domestic, regional, and international routes.

# US president Joe Biden faces one of the most critical moments of his political career today with a state of the union speech aimed at convincing skeptical voters he is fit to beat Donald Trump in November’s election. Most years the annual address is a largely ceremonial affair, but this year 81-year-old Biden seeks to overcome growing doubts about his age, the US economy and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Americans will be watching to see not just what the oldest president in US history says, but how he says it.

# Motorsport: McLaren is hoping for a more consistent Formula One season, after a mixed bag last year. They struggled at the start of the 2023 season but improved considerably to grab several podium places in the second half. This year they started better, with Lando Norris finishing sixth in the first race in Bahrein, and teammate Oscar Piastri eighth. The second race is taking place in Saudi Arabia this weekend and Norris expects the track in Jeddah to suit McLaren: 

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-77-cents and the euro at 20-rand-46-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-868-dollars-49-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-156-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-46-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….