News 16:00

BULLETIN 26 March 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IEC releases the candidate lists for inspection and objections 
# Complaints are investigated against the State Security Agency and the Competition Commission  
# And cricket: The IPL final is set to take place in Chennai

# The Independent Electoral Commission has published candidate lists for the upcoming elections, with 14-thousand-662 candidates nominated for 887 seats. Inspection of lists and objections is open until tomorrow. Forty-two candidates appear on multiple party lists, and one is both independent and party-nominated. The largest ballot, with 56 contestants, is for National Assembly compensatory seats. Gauteng will see the biggest regional ballot, with 40 parties and two independent candidates, while Limpopo has the most independent candidates at three. The final candidate list will be out on 10 April.

# The Information Regulator is currently investigating complaints against the State Security Agency and the Competition Commission. The complaint against the agency relates to a request for access to expenditure information, while the complaint against the commission is about access to investigation and merger reports. The complainant seeks clarification on the application of the law and public powers in major transactions. The regulator’s chairperson, Pansy Tlakula, told the media they are dedicated to ensuring transparency and accountability in government agencies and regulatory bodies:

# Higher Education and Training, Science, and Innovation minister Blade Nzimande has officially announced the cancellation of the registration of four Educor private colleges due to non-compliance with legal requirements. The institutions, Damelin, CityVarsity, Icesa City Campus, and Lyceum College, failed to submit financial statements and tax clearance certificates. Complaints against these institutions ranged from poor quality of learning and teaching to inadequate staff quality and salary non-payment. Nzimande urges affected staff to seek legal assistance:

# Several people are missing after a bridge collapsed after a container ship collided into it in Baltimore in the United States. Multiple vehicles fell into the Patapsco River beneath. The Francis Scott Key Bridge broke into pieces after the impact. Baltimore mayor Brandon Scott describes the incident as an unthinkable tragedy, while the governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, declared a state of emergency and said he wants federal resources deployed. All crew members of the ship, the Dali, have been accounted for.

# Cricket: The final of the Indian Premier League will be played in Chennai on the 26th of May. The organisers released the full schedule after initially only announcing the first two weeks’ fixtures to accommodate India’s general election, taking place over six weeks from the 19th of next month. This means some of the teams will have to move from their home bases, namely Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals. Qualifier 1, the eliminator and qualifier 2 will all be played in Ahmedabad.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-93-cents and the euro at 20-rand-54-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-93-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-887-dollars-48-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-193-dollars-96-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 86-dollars-10-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….