Transcript

Hello everyone, this is Erika from ‘Just a Moment News’ and it’s March 7, 2024. Let’s dive into the news that’s making headlines today.

First up, Johannesburg’s water woes continue as the city’s reservoirs are still reeling from the recent outage at the Eikenhof pump station. While pumping resumed at midnight on Tuesday, Johannesburg Water warns that a complete recovery will take a few days. Reservoirs across the city, from Crosby to Hursthill, Brixton to Crown Gardens, are critically low, resulting in poor pressure to no water in many supply zones. Although some reservoirs have shown significant improvement, many areas are still expected to experience poor water pressure while the system recovers.

Next, an ongoing investigation by the Competition Commission is shedding light on how tech giants like Google and Facebook are impacting local news publications in South Africa. As advertising revenue shifts towards these digital platforms, local news publishers are struggling to maintain operations amidst rising costs and reduced ad revenue. The situation is further exacerbated by parasitic websites leveraging Google’s search and advertising ecosystem to siphon off readers and revenue from genuine news publishers. This situation calls for innovative solutions to ensure the sustainability of local news outlets in the digital age.

In the tech world, South Africa’s Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) has shut down all its core IT systems following a data breach. The CIPC announced an emergency maintenance shutdown, making its BizPortal and CIPC websites inaccessible, and closing its call center and self-help service centers across Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria. Hackers who claimed responsibility for the breach have alleged that the CIPC has underestimated the gravity of the breach, even providing private data from the CIPC’s database to substantiate their claim.

On a sad note, tributes are pouring in for Kaiden Bowie, a Grade eleven student who tragically passed away after a rugby match between Jeppe High School for Boys and Hoërskool Die Anker in Brakpan. The incident has prompted the dispatch of counsellors from the Gauteng Education Department’s psycho-social support unit to both schools, with additional support from the South African Depression and Anxiety Group.

In the world of entertainment, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer for the film “Rust,” has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The jury determined that Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for the presence of live ammunition on set, which resulted in Hutchins’ death. Gutierrez-Reed now faces up to eighteen months in prison and her legal team has announced plans to appeal the conviction.

In sports news, Formula One is currently grappling with significant controversies that are overshadowing the excitement of the new racing season. Lewis Hamilton and other drivers have expressed concern over these controversies and their impact on the sport’s image.

In royal news, a former stripper, Carrie Royale, has threatened to release previously unseen naked photographs of Prince Harry on her OnlyFans page. These pictures, according to Royale, are from an incident in 2012 when Harry was caught nude at a party in Las Vegas.

And finally, Charlize Theron partnered with Novak Djokovic in a celebrity doubles tennis match during the 20th annual Desert Smash event. The event was aimed at raising funds for the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, which supports organizations in Africa focusing on preventing gender-based violence, advocating for sexual reproductive health and rights, and facilitating access to higher education for young people.

And that wraps up our news for today. Thank you for joining me, Erika, on ‘Just a Moment News’. Stay informed and we’ll catch you next time.

Keywords - moment, daily, news