News 17:00

BULLETIN 17 April 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The South African Weather Service warns of storms as holiday travel begins
# The Wits Hunger Strike Committee march to the SAHRC demanding student registration
# And Rugby: The Sharks have Etzebeth, Am and Fassi back for the clash with Edinburgh

# The South African Weather Service says heavy rain and thundershowers are expected over KwaZulu-Natal and the eastern half of the Eastern Cape today. A level two warning for disruptive rainfall has been issued. There is a 30-percent chance of rain expected in Gauteng, the Free State, and North West tomorrow and Saturday. Forecaster Tokelo Chiloane says the wet weather may cause flooding and travel delays as people prepare for the Easter weekend:

# The Wits Hunger Strike Solidarity Committee today led a march to the South African Human Rights Commission in Johannesburg, demanding the registration of all students, regardless of outstanding debt. The protest follows a 12-day hunger strike, with students accusing Wits University of ignoring poor black students. The committee’s Feziwe Ndwayana urges the commission to act against what they call exclusionary policies and uphold the right to education for all:

# Freedom Under Law has welcomed the Constitutional Court’s decision to dismiss, with costs, the MK Party and John Hlophe’s appeal to overturn an interdict barring him from serving on the Judicial Service Commission. The civil organisation says Hlophe’s prior removal for gross misconduct makes his JSC appointment unconstitutional. It says that the ruling, tied to the Western Cape High Court interim order, marks a victory against delaying tactics.

# US president Donald Trump blasted Federal Reserve chairperson Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates, calling him “always too late and wrong”. Trump wrote on his TruthSocial platform that Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough. The central bank’s chair warned yesterday that Trump’s sweeping tariffs on virtually every trade partner could put the Fed in the unenviable position of having to choose between tackling inflation and unemployment.

# Rugby: Eben Etzebeth will lead the Sharks in their United Rugby Championship clash with Edinburgh in Scotland tomorrow evening. It has been six months since head coach John Plumtree was able to select his strongest possible side and that is a big plus for the team who also welcomed back Lukhanyo Am and Aphelele Fassi to the starting line-up and Grant Williams on the bench. The Sharks is up against an Edinburgh side who secured a home Challenge Cup semi-final, after defeating the Bulls in last week’s quarter-final.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-79-cents and the euro at 21-rand-35-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 84-thousand-571-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-328-dollars-11-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-2-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….