News 18:00

BULLETIN 11 March 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA unveils the parliamentary team 
# Japan donates 149-million-rand to Egyptian hospitals treating injured Palestinians 
# And rugby: All the tickets for the Boks against Ireland in Durban are sold out

# ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has revealed the lineup of Team Fix SA, which will represent the party in various capacities in Parliament. Athol Trollip will lead executive business and oversee the land and agriculture portfolio. Tsholofelo Maforah will focus on Basic Education, Tutu Faleni on Higher Education, and Solly Moeng on International Relations. Pieter Scribante will handle Economic Development, while Mpho Madisha will manage Energy and Mineral Resources. Mashaba says Infrastructure and Public Enterprises will be led by Michael Beaumont with Kgosi Letlape taking care of Health:

Meanwhile, the South African Council of Churches has announced a national day of prayer on 5 May preceding the general elections. Acting general secretary Mzwandile Molo urges nationwide participation to unite in prayer for a peaceful, fair and intimidation-free election process amid heightened contestation. Molo says the event aims to combat political violence, with the elections poised to be one of South Africa’s most fiercely contested:

# Japan has pledged 149-million-rand to provide critical medical aid to Egyptian hospitals treating injured Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. The funding is in collaboration with the World Health Organisation. Japanese ambassador to Egypt, Oka Hiroshi, says the support aims to address the dire medical needs exacerbated by access restrictions and attacks on health facilities amid Israel’s conflict with Gaza:

# Rugby: It took just 90 minutes for all tickets for the second Test between the Springboks and Ireland in Durban to be sold out this morning. The world champions take on the team, regarded by some as the best in the world, at Kings Park on the 13th of July. There was also huge interest in tickets for the first Test in Pretoria a week earlier. Sharks CEO Ed Coetzee says it’s fantastic to see the excitement amongst fans to see the Boks in action again.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-65-cents and the euro at 20-rand-37-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 72-thousand-203-dollars-39-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-181-dollars-32-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-16-cents a barrel.

# And finally: President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended warm wishes to the Muslim community at the beginning of Ramadan. He says the holy month is a special period of spiritual devotion, physical sacrifice and charitable outreach for Muslims across the world. Ramaphosa says his thoughts and prayers go out to the many nations for whom the holy month is a time of great hardship and suffering, and hopes the message of Ramadan will put an end to conflicts and wars everywhere.

Stay tuned for more news………….