News 17:00

BULLETIN 26 March 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Over 40 political parties appeal against the IEC’s deregistration notice
# Rugby: Simon Easterby and Richard Wigglesworth are appointed assistant coaches of the British and Irish Lions
# And South Africa donates Gandhi artefacts to India

# 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:

# The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union says it disagrees with concerns from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate over recent deadly shootings involving police in KwaZulu-Natal. The union criticised IPID for not supporting members who must act quickly to protect themselves and the public in life-threatening situations. Popcru’s Nthabeleng Molefe urges the police watchdog to ensure their actions don’t hinder proactive policing but instead provide officials with the necessary resources and legal support:

# Mineral and Petroleum Resources minister, Gwede Mantashe, says a ministerial task team has been established to urgently develop a revival plan for the smelting sector, and to ensure its long-term sustainability. South Africa has just more than five-million tonnes of installed ferrochrome smelting capacity, but less than three-million tonnes of this is operational. Mantashe says the demand for the ferroalloys produced from both minerals was poised to rise, partly on the back of green technologies such as batteries but also from traditional sectors such as construction.

# Rugby: The British and Irish Lions announced Simon Easterby and Richard Wigglesworth’s appointments as head coach Andy Farrell’s assistants for the upcoming tour of Australia. Easterby was Ireland’s interim head coach during the recent Six Nations and presided over four wins and one defeat as the champions for the previous two seasons finished in third place. Former England scrum-half Wigglesworth succeeded current England head coach Steve Borthwick as Leicester boss in 2022. He then joined Borthwick and became England’s senior assistant coach in October last year.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-27-cents and the euro at 19-rand-68-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-53-cents and Bitcoin trades at 87-thousand-589-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-and-22-dollars-24-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-8-cents a barrel.

# And finally: India has welcomed South Africa’s donation of historic artefacts that belonged to lawyer and social activist Mahatma Gandhi. The items, which hold significant historical and cultural value, will now be displayed at India’s National Gandhi Museum. Officials from both countries hailed the donation as a tribute to Gandhi’s enduring legacy and commitment to peace and justice. They say this gesture strengthens the historical ties between the two nations, as Gandhi spent over two decades in South Africa shaping his philosophy of non-violence.

Stay tuned for more news………….