News 17:00

BULLETIN 24 March 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A man from North West is sentenced to 25 years for killing his wife and stepdaughter
# Home Affairs takes action to address the abuses that aided state capture
# And soccer: Hugo Broos is unhappy because Bafana Bafana was denied training at the stadium for the Benin qualifier

# The High Court in Pretoria has sentenced Paul Prinsloo to 25 years in prison for the premeditated murders of his wife, Magdalena, and stepdaughter, Ruzanne. The murders occurred at Kosmos village in Hartbeespoort on 27 November 2023, after a heated argument. Prinsloo pleaded guilty to murder, though the state proved premeditation. Despite his plea, the court deviated from life imprisonment due to his age, ill-health, and remorse. The National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the sentence, emphasising its commitment to combatting gender-based violence.

# Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber says further actions are underway to address abuses that aided state capture. This follows the cancellation of the irregularly granted South African citizenship of a senior Gupta family member under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. The minister says his department will ensure decisive crackdown on immigration corruption, aiming to restore integrity to Home Affairs and the Border Management Authority:

# The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse has rejected the National Treasury’s proposals to increase VAT and freeze personal income tax brackets, calling them unfair to an already overstretched taxpayer base. The organisation argues these hikes come while billions are lost to corruption, inefficiency, and waste. OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage says selling non-core state-owned enterprises will generate revenue, reduce liabilities, and improve government efficiency:

# Soccer: Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos is livid after his charges were denied training at the stadium in the Ivory Coast where they will play Benin in a World Cup qualifier today. Yesterday’s match between Ivory Coast and Gambia prevented South Africa and Benin from practising on the field. Bafana currently lead the qualifying group, with Benin in second place. Bafana captain Ronwen Williams says it’s the halfway mark and after tonight, they will have a clearer picture of what they still have to do.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-16-cents and the euro at 19-rand-66-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-53-cents and Bitcoin trades at 87-thousand-683-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-and-22-dollars-37-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-83-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A blue and white spiral spotted in the sky in France and the UK was likely created by a SpaceX rocket. This is according to weather forecasters in both countries. The UK’s Met Office says it had received many reports of an illuminated swirl in the British sky yesterday evening that was likely caused by a Falcon 9 rocket that had earlier launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. According to SpaceX the classified mission, which was conducted for the US National Reconnaissance Office, was successful.

Stay tuned for more news………….