It’s Monday, 23 March 2026, and this is News Bite, your fast, reliable update on South Africa and the world, with Gareth Edwards.
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the conflict in the Middle East is creating instability in financial markets that could significantly affect the global economy. With Iran largely closing the Strait of Hormuz, which carries around 20 percent of the world’s oil supply, SACCI warns that hopes of economic recovery are taking another serious knock.
At the same time, the General Industries Workers Union of South Africa is urging the South African Reserve Bank to cut the repo rate when its Monetary Policy Committee meets on Thursday. Giwusa says the inflation outlook has grown more uncertain in the wake of the war and wants the prime lending rate brought sharply lower to align more closely with current inflation.
In London, the Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation after four ambulances belonging to Jewish volunteer rescue organisation Hatzola Northwest were set alight in Golders Green. Officials say exploding cylinders in the vehicles caused further damage to a nearby block of flats, and police are treating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime.
Back home, Sergeant Fannie Nkosi has told the Madlanga Commission that police questioned him about businessman Vusimuzi Matlala’s bank card during a raid on his home. Nkosi says he gave a statement freely on the same day after being asked about Matlala’s whereabouts, as investigators probed links to a bank card reportedly found in a speedboat.
IN OTHER NEWS…
· Airlines are gradually recovering after airspace closures and cancellations linked to the US-Israel conflict with Iran. South African travellers are adjusting routes rather than cancelling plans outright, even as jet fuel costs and airfares rise and some carriers introduce surcharges to manage mounting pressure.
· Numsa says it is relieved that the bodies of five mineworkers killed in a mudslide at Ekapa Minerals Mine in Kimberley have now been recovered. The union says attention must now turn to the affected families, unpaid wages and the legal processes that follow.
IN SPORT…
· The Springbok Women’s Sevens have qualified for the season-ending three-tournament Sevens World Championship Series in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux after finishing third in Montevideo.
· And LIV Golf says the success of its first African event at Steyn City, where Bryson DeChambeau beat Jon Rahm in a playoff before a record crowd, has confirmed that bringing the tournament back to South Africa in 2027 was an easy decision.
That’s your News Bite for 23 March 2026.
For developments on these stories and more, visit enca.com or watch eNCA on DStv Channel 403.