News 17:00

BULLETIN 5 September 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa assures China of the government of national unity’s commitment to bilateral relations
# An armed man is shot dead near the Israeli consulate in Munich
# And, rugby: 19 World Cup winners will play for the Boks against the All Blacks in Cape Town

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed that South Africa’s formation of a government of national unity will not affect relations with China. Speaking after the completion of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation, Ramaphosa emphasised enhancing ties with China, elevating their relationship to an all-round cooperative strategic partnership. He assured Chinese president Xi Jinping of continued foreign policy alignment with the GNU:

# Cabinet has commended Eskom for ensuring no load-shedding this summer, as the power utility works to improve its generation capacity. Eskom aims to keep unplanned losses below 13-thousand megawatts. Acting minister in the Presidency, Maropene Ramokgopa, told the media government’s energy action plan has helped reduce load-shedding: 

# Old Mutual and Sanlam have reported high client interest in the new two-pot retirement system. Old Mutual received 190-thousand interactions, while Sanlam saw 84-thousand inquiries. In contrast, Ninety One and Coronation have noted fewer withdrawals, likely attributed to their wealthier client base. Momentum is said to have processed 19-thousand requests, primarily digitally. Estimates for total withdrawals range from 40-billion to 100-billion-rand in the first year. Payment processing can take between two and 20 days.

# An armed man has been shot and killed by German police near the Nazi documentation centre and Israeli consulate in Munich. The man was spotted carrying a long firearm and five officers then exchanged fire with their service weapons. After the shooting police decided to increase security at Munich’s main synagogue. The incident took place exactly 52 years after the attack on Israeli athletes by Palestinian militant group Black September during the Olympic Games. The consulate was closed at the time for a memorial service for the victims of 1972.

# Rugby: Nineteen World Cup winners will play for South Africa in Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks in Cape Town. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ruan Nortjé, Elrigh Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp are the only players without World Cup experience. Head coach Rassie Erasmus made seven changes to the match-day squad that beat New Zealand at Ellis Park last weekend. The match at the sold-out Cape Town stadium will be the 108th between the old foes, and victory should assure the Boks of the championship title.

# And, the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-72-cents and the euro at 19-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-34-cents and Bitcoin trades at 56-thousand-667-dollars-26-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-515-dollars-36-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-29-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….