News 18:00

BULLETIN 27 March 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The High Court in Pretoria halts the analogue TV switch-off
# The Constitutional Court dismisses AfriForum’s fight against the ‘Kill the Boer’ chant
# And soccer: Lesotho urges FIFA consistency over the Mokoena case

# The High Court in Pretoria has suspended the 31 March analogue TV switch-off deadline, barring Communications minister Solly Malatsi and Sentech from proceeding. The ruling follows a legal challenge by eMedia, the SABC and advocacy groups, arguing the switch-off would impact millions of indigent households. However, Malatsi’s legal team claims eMedia is protecting commercial interests. The government cites a 1.2-billion-rand cost since 2014 as a reason for ending analogue TV transmission.

# The Constitutional Court has dismissed AfriForum’s application for leave to appeal two court decisions that did not find the chant Kill the Boer to be hate speech. The court says the appeal has no reasonable prospects of success. AfriForum brought the case against the EFF and its leader Julius Malema as well as former EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi.

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for urgent action to address ongoing fraud and corruption in the water sector. At the Water and Sanitation indaba in Midrand, Gauteng, he highlighted challenges such as aging infrastructure, illegal connections, organized crime, vandalism, financial mismanagement, poor revenue collection, and high water losses at municipal level are worsening the water crisis. Ramaphosa says several water boards are under investigation for corruption by the Special Investigating Unit:

# SANParks has launched joint operations to improve safety in the Lions Head, Signal Hill, Pipe Track, and The Glen areas of Table Mountain National Park. This follows a rise in armed robberies. The collaborative effort with police and the Camps Bay city improvement district, have increased patrols and intelligence-led interventions to curb crime. SANParks spokesperson JP Louw has urged visitors to hike in groups and avoid evening hikes:

# Soccer: Lesotho’s governing body has urged world body FIFA to remain consistent in handling Bafana Bafana midfielder Tebogo Mokoena’s case. Secretary-general Mokhosi Mohapi believes Mokoena should have been suspended during South Africa’s 2-0 win over Lesotho in the World Cup qualifiers. FIFA’s rule entails an automatic one-match ban after two yellow cards. Bafana currently has a five-point lead on top of Africa’s Group C, but could face a three-point deduction. Mohapi emphasised to Newzroom Afrika the need for fair judgement:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-32-cents and the euro at 19-rand-76-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-68-cents and Bitcoin trades at 86-thousand-440-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-and-49-dollars-35-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-93-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….