News 17:00

BULLETIN 15 March 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Showmax’s ‘Tracking Thabo Bester’ documentary series is to air following a failed block bid
# A lack of signatures bars two political parties from contesting the elections
# And rugby: The Crusaders experience their worst-ever Super Rugby season

# The High Court in Johannesburg has rejected Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana’s urgent plea to halt the broadcast of the MultiChoice and Showmax documentary series “Tracking Thabo Bester.” The series is scheduled to go on air today. Bester and Magudumana sought to prevent the airing until he could provide input. Judge Stuart Wilson ruled their concerns lacked substance, and declined to order costs given their inmate status:

# Two more political parties will not be able to contest the elections on 29 May. The Spectrum National Party and the Unemployed People’s Movement were unable to gather enough signatures to endorse their participation. These parties were part of the Multi-Party Charter. This follows the announcement by the Change Starts Now party, which also failed to meet the 15-thousand signature requirement for new political parties to participate in the elections.

# The Public Servants Association urges crime intelligence to be proactive in addressing cyber extortions following recent cyberattacks on government systems. Concerns mount over the safety of citizens’ information after attempted breaches at the Government Pensions Administration Agency and the Department of Home Affairs. The PSA’s Claude Naiker calls for stringent measures and contingency plans to safeguard critical data and restore disrupted services. According to Naiker, government must prioritise cybersecurity, invest in technology, and enhance skills to counter cyber threats effectively:

# Only two out of 15 forensic reports on fraud and corruption commissioned by the previous board of the National Lotteries Commission were fully implemented. NLC commissioner Jodi Scholtz informed Parliament’s Trade, Industry and Competition portfolio committee there were investigations that implicated board members and top management, but actions were not taken. The new leadership has vowed, however, that it will centralise and implement the recommendations from these reports, with the chief auditor building a relationship with the Hawks for further investigations.

# Rugby: Seven-time Super Rugby champions, the Crusaders, are experiencing their worst season ever after suffering their fourth consecutive loss. They went down 14-10 to the Hurricanes in Christchurch this morning, increasing pressure on new coach Rob Penney. He took over when Scott Robertson became head coach of the All Blacks, but his team couldn’t win a single match so far this year. Captain David Havili wasn’t prepared to blame their misfortunes on their long injury list, with seven of the team’s All Blacks not available this week.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-70-cents and the euro at 20-rand-36-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-84-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-788-dollars-82-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-158-dollars-69-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-82-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….