News 17:00

BULLETIN 8 September 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The ANC defends its candidate list submission
# An economist warns that South Africa’s economic growth outlook remains fragile
# And: Africa’s private credit market is set to keep growing

# ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party submitted its candidate lists to the Electoral Commission before the deadline, but technical difficulties prevented final confirmation. He says the party did not seek to add or change names, but asked the IEC to process information already captured on its system. The IEC rejected the request. Mbalula says the ANC is requesting the Electoral Court to recognise the lists as lawfully submitted:

# North West University Business School economist Raymond Parsons says South Africa’s economy has suffered a setback after gross domestic product contracted by 0.2-percen between April and June. According to Parsons, the recent global energy shock has interrupted the country’s recovery, with mining and manufacturing weighing on growth. He expects the economy to grow by about 1.2-percent this year and warns that weak investment, high borrowing costs and global tensions could further threaten economic growth:

The Forum for South Africa says it is concerned that structural pressures continue to impact the quality of education in Gauteng. The provincial Department of Education has received 805-thousand-688 applications for Grade 1 and Grade 8 for 2027; however, the department has more than 405-thousand-627 available school spaces. FOSA leader Tebogo Mashilompane says the population of Gauteng has continued to grow, yet insufficient planning and investment in new schools have not kept pace with this growth:

# Africa’s private credit market is expected to keep expanding as companies and infrastructure projects look beyond banks for finance. Credit ratings agency Moody’s says the market remains small but has grown rapidly, with assets under management rising from 28-billion-rand in 2020 to 89-billion-rand by the end of last year. Moody’s says the growth is being driven by gaps in traditional lending, particularly for infrastructure and small and medium-sized businesses. It expects the trend to continue as banks remain cautious about providing longer-term finance.

# Cricket: Batter Matthew Breetzke and allrounder Corbin Bosch have joined the Proteas’ squad in Windhoek for the three-match one-day series against Namibia. South Africa clinched the T20 tri-series on Sunday with a comprehensive victory over Zimbabwe in the final, while the ODIs will also be played at the Namibian Stadium in the capital. Bosch will play alongside his younger brother, Eathan, who played in the T20s. Cricket South Africa announced star batter Lhuan-dré Pretorius and seamer Andile Simelane will both miss the series due to injury.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-99-cents against the rand and the euro at 18-rand-59-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-68-cents and Bitcoin trades at 78-thousand-454-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-403-dollars-24-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 99-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….