News 17:00

BULLETIN 8 April 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa calls for national support in fighting crime
# A state witness is gunned down inside a Cape Town court
# And an economist says Trump’s administration misinterpreted his work to justify tariffs

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has urges South Africans to back the police in the fight against crime. Speaking at the police summit in Kempton Park, Gauteng, he emphasised that crime is an all-of-society issue and overcoming it requires collective effort. Ramaphosa also acknowledged the challenges posed by emerging threats like transnational crime and illegal mining. He calls for improved public trust, better police-community relations, and smarter use of resources:

# A state witness has been fatally shot inside the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town this morning. The victim was declared dead at the scene by medical personnel after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. No arrests have yet been made. Police have opened a murder case, and the motive behind the attack is under investigation.

# The Western Cape’s trade and investment agency, Wesgro, has announced its commitment to supporting local exporters facing new US tariffs. The US has imposed a 31-percent tariff on South African goods, affecting key exports like citrus and wine. Last year, the US accounted for eight-percent of the province’s exports, totaling 16.2-billion-rand. Wesgro has launched an online resource to help businesses navigate these challenges.

Meanwhile, an economist whose work was cited by US president Donald Trump’s administration to justify sweeping tariffs has said officials misinterpreted the research, and the levies should have been as little as a quarter of what the White House announced. Brent Neiman, who was a US Treasury official under previous president Joe Biden, co-authored a 2021 paper on the impact of tariffs on prices in the United States. The paper was cited in a statement released last week explaining the calculations behind the major import tariffs announced by Trump.

# Soccer: Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, says facing Real Madrid is one of the biggest games of his managerial career so far. The Gunners take on Madrid in the Champions League first-leg quarterfinal at the Emirates Stadium in London tonight, with the second-leg at the Bernabeu next Tuesday. Madrid, who has won the title a record 15-times, is the defending champion. Arteta says his players are ready for this big game:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 19-rand-36-cents and the euro at 21-rand-19-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-75-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-119-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-and-21-dollars-85-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….