News 18:00

BULLETIN 15 March 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Showmax’s ‘Tracking Thabo Bester’ documentary series is to air following a failed block bid 
# Eskom implements stage 3 load-shedding
# And tennis: Naomi Osaka will play in the Billlie Jean King Cup for the first time in four years 

# 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:

# Eskom says stage three load-shedding was implemented from four this afternoon until five tomorrow morning, followed by a suspension until four tomorrow afternoon, when stage one load-shedding will resume until five on Sunday morning. The evening peak forecast for tonight is 25-thousand-848 megawatts. Eskom reports unplanned outages at 14-thousand-144 megawatts, with seven-thousand-674 megawatts for planned maintenance.

# Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga has announced the extension of the Covid-19 Taxi Relief Fund for 12-months, providing financial support to taxi operators. The fund’s amount has been increased by two-thousand-200-rand per operator, with a new payment of seven-thousand-200-rand per operating licence. Qualifying operators must be South African citizens or permanent residents, hold a valid operating licence or proof of renewal application, and be registered for income tax with SARS.

# The Free Market Foundation has condemned government for excessive regulation of economic choices, undermining consumer rights. This stance comes as the world commemorates World Consumer Rights Day. The Foundation’s head of Policy, Martin van Staden, criticised pending legislation, like the Tobacco Control Bill and Films and Publications Act, for imposing fines and imprisonment for personal choices. He urged government to combat violent crime over regulating innocuous economic activities:

# Tennis: Former world number one Naomi Osaka of Japan plans to participate in the Billie Jean King Cup for the first time in four years. The four-time Grand Slam champion will represent her country in next month’s qualifier against Kazakhstan in Tokyo. The winner will play in the finals in Spain in November. Osaka returned to the tour this season after taking a 15-month break for the birth of her first child. She is currently number 287 in the world rankings.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-69-cents and the euro at 20-rand-35-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-83-cents and Bitcoin trades at 67-thousand-957-dollars-75-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-162-dollars-45-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 84-dollars-92-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….