News 17:00

BULLETIN 27 March 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Eugene de Kock reveals that president Cyril Ramaphosa was on an assassination hit list 
# The DA demands accountability following lifestyle audit findings against eleven departments 
# And soccer: Bafana-Bafana is to face Panama in the first friendly tonight

# Former apartheid police commander Eugene de Kock has told the High Court in Gqeberha that president Cyril Ramaphosa was on a list of people targeted for assassination. Testifying virtually at the Cradock Four Inquiry, De Kock said he was ordered to kill 33 individuals but refused to kill Ramaphosa, insisting he was innocent. He also explained how SAPS top officials would go for cleaning in church after committed murders:

# The ANC has welcomed minister of Electricity and Energy, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s announcement that progress is being made in the implementation of the Load Reduction Elimination Programme. Load reduction is localised power cuts affecting roughly 1.69 million customers across 971 feeders. Minister Ramokgopa has stated that to date, approximately 199-thousand customers have been removed from load reduction schedules. This is through a combination of smart metering, infrastructure upgrades and feeder stabilisation. The ANC says these efforts advance its commitment to a capable development state that delivers reliable services.

# The DA has expressed concern that eleven departments received referrals for investigation, but failed to submit any progress reports to the Department of Public Service and Administration on actions taken. Of these departments, three are national and eight provincial. The DA’s Eleanore Bouw-Spies says the biggest offending departments must be summoned to Parliament to account for their failure to implement consequence management following lifestyle audit findings:

# The Eastern Cape Department of Public Works, Infrastructure and Human Settlement says the Botha Sigcau building in Mthatha has been declared unsafe. The historic building, which housed several provincial departments, was gutted by a fire on Tuesday evening. The department’s spokesperson, Siyabonga Mdodi, says technical teams are still waiting for the building to cool off before they can make the first physical assessment of the damage:

# Soccer: Coach Hugo Broos aims to test squad depth when Bafana Bafana face Panama tonight at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium. This comes as Bongokuhle Hlongwane and Mbekezeli Mbokazi sit out due to travel fatigue. After an inspiring visit from Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, spirits are high in the South African camp. Fans can catch the action live on SABC 3 and SuperSport at 7 pm, as Bafana begins a crucial two-match friendly series against the Central American side in preparation for the World Cup starting in June. The next encounter against Panama is on Tuesday in Cape Town.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-17-cents against the rand and the euro at 19-rand-77-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-80-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-588-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-440-dollars-36-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 103-dollars-58-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….