News 12:00

BULLETIN 31 July 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Pension fund members are urged to seek trustworthy financial advice on fund withdrawals
# An energy expert predicts the end of load-shedding by year-end
# And, Olympic Games: The organisers are not too concerned after several athletes contracted Covid-19

# National Treasury has welcomed the signing into law of the Pension Funds Amendment Act, saying this ushers in the last part of the amendments required to implement the two-pot system. Treasury says the new two-pot retirement system creates a more sustainable retirement fund system while increasing flexibility to cater to the differing needs of members. It is urging fund members to seek trustworthy financial advice to consider the implications of withdrawals from the savings component.

# Energy expert Sampson Mamphweli believes government could declare the end of load-shedding around November or December this year. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Mamphweli cites a positive energy availability outlook, with four months of no load-shedding, an energy availability factor above 60-percent, and fewer breakdowns. He is hopeful Eskom will sustain the energy supply through the beginning of summer:

# Civil society organisation Green Connection has welcomed TotalEnergies’ announcement to abandon two offshore oil and gas operations in South Africa. A subsidiary of TotalEnergies owns a 45-percent stake in a block off the southern coast where the fields, Brulpadda and Luiperd, were discovered. Green Connection’s Lisa Makaula says investments in fossil fuels that cause climate change must become a thing of the past, as there were sufficient reserves for the transition to sustainable energy:

# Union federation Cosatu says it joins the South African election observers in swiftly dispelling the allegations of a fraudulent electoral process in Venezuela. The country’s opposition and multiple Latin American leaders have refused to recognise authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro’s victory alleging fraud in the presidential elections. Cosatu says the international observers, including South Africans, witnessed a fair and free electoral process. It adds that the contention by the leader of the opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez, that he won more than 70-percent of the vote comes as a complete surprise.

# Olympic Games: The organisers aren’t too concerned after several athletes tested positive for Covid-19. They include British swimmer Adam Peaty, several Australian women’s water polo players, and Australian swimmer Lani Pallister, who withdrew from the one-thousand-500-metre freestyle to save energy for the four-by-200-meter freestyle. Spokesperson Anne Descamps says there’s a protocol that athletes who have tested positive have to wear a mask, but Covid-19 cases are quite low in France.

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-26-cents and the euro at 19-rand-74-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-41-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-83-dollars-29-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-417-dollars-83-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 79-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….