News 15:00

BULLETIN 2 September 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Petrol and diesel prices fall to their lowest levels since early last year 
# Ramaphosa welcomes increased trade with China
# And, Paralympic Games: Louzanne Coetzee wins bronze in the one-thousand-500m vision impairment in Paris

# The Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced fuel prices are set to drop to their lowest levels since early last year. From Wednesday, the price of 93-octane and 95-octane petrol will see a reduction of 92-cents per litre, while diesel prices will fall by one-rand-five-cents and 79-cents per litre. Illuminating paraffin prices will be cut by one-rand-three-cents per litre and LP gas will decrease by ten-cents per kilogram. The decreases are attributed to a drop in the Brent crude oil price and a stronger rand. 

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the rise in bilateral trade with China, but emphasized the need to narrow the trade deficit and restructure trade relations. He encourages sustainable manufacturing and job-creating investments, noting progress in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation projects. Ramaphosa reaffirmed South Africa’s support for a successful 2024 summit of the forum:

# The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union has reiterated calls for members not to withdraw funds from their two-pot retirement system, which began yesterday. Popcru president Thulani Ngwenya demands that the ten-percent seed capital be tax-free and uncapped at 30-thousand-rand. He argues that the current system disadvantages public servants, urging access to pensions without locking the remaining portion until retirement:

# Paralympic Games: South Africa’s Louzanne Coetzee, alongside guide Erasmus Badenhorst, secured bronze in the women’s one-thousand-500-metre vision impairment final in Paris. She set a personal best of four-minutes-35.49-seconds. Ethiopia’s Yayesh Tesfaw claimed gold with a world record of four-minutes-27.68-seconds, while China’s He Shanshan took silver. This marks Team South Africa’s second medal after Mpumelelo Mhlongo’s 100-metre gold. Coetzee will compete in the women’s marathon on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has triggered a heated debate by saying she wants to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower. She says she has the agreement of the International Olympic Committee, so the rings will stay. Some Parisians backed the move, but others say it would defile the French capital’s iconic monument. The rings were installed before the opening of the Summer Games and were expected to be removed after the Paralympics. Hidalgo has been running Paris since 2014 and is known for her bold and sometimes controversial reforms.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-89-cents and the euro at 19-rand-80-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-51-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-374-dollars-50-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-498-dollars-64-cent a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-9-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….