News 18:00

BULLETIN 12 March 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Johannesburg’s mayor confronts the 10-day water outage 
# South Africa and Ghana are to expand trade and investment 
# And cricket: Rishabh Pant returns after a car crash to captain the Delhi Capitals in the IPL

# Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda is set to meet with ward councillors this evening to address the water outage, now in its tenth day. Over 20 suburbs have faced over a week without water. Johannesburg Water reported recovery in some reservoirs, but challenges persist due to increased demand exacerbated by the heat. News24 reports Blairgowrie residents are without water since a lightning strike on 3 March.  They plan a protest over poor communication and inaction, demanding repair timelines and alternative water distribution. Residents are demanding a sustainable solution beyond water tankers.

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for expanded trade and investment between South Africa and Ghana during the bi-national commission in Pretoria. He expressed eagerness for continued import-export relations and mentioned South African companies’ interest in expanding investment in Ghana. Ramaphosa welcomed collaboration in infrastructure and pre-chemical sectors. He urges reversing the decline in trade over the past four-years to transform trade relations at an economic and investment level:

# Union federation Saftu has accused US president Joe Biden of attempting to salvage his reputation regarding his stance on Palestine. The federation claims Biden’s actions are aimed at saving the reputation of the US government. Saftu spokesperson Trevor Shaku says Biden’s statements are focused on preventing Israel from depleting its legitimacy globally. He says Biden is still creating room for further Palestinian casualties:

# Cricket: Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant will make his return to competition in this month’s Indian Premier League after an absence of 14 months. He was seriously injured in a car accident in December 2022 and hasn’t been able to play since. Pant will captain Delhi Capitals in the IPL that starts next Friday. India’s governing body says he was declared fit after undergoing extensive rehabilitation and recovery, including an operation to reconstruct a ligament in his right knee. He played 33 Tests, 30 one-day games and 66 T20s for India.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-69-cents and the euro at 20-rand-40-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 72-thousand-157-dollars-2-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-161-dollars-86-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 82-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Ninety-one-year-old Stewart Banner says he is determined to tackle his 17th Cape Town Cycle Tour next year. He suffered a nasty fall at Misty Cliffs at this year’s race on Sunday. However, after Stewart was attended to by medical personnel and 50-minute delay, he continued and completed the race. His son, Iain, told Cape Talk it was miraculous that his father was able to complete the race all bandaged up.

Stay tuned for more news………….