News 14:00

BULLETIN 13 September 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa delays the implementation of certain BELA Bill clauses for further review
# BetterBond says interest rate cuts are expected next week
# And, cricket: The New Zealand/Afghanistan Test is abandoned after five wet days

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has delayed the implementation of certain clauses in the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill for three-months to allow for further debate. This delay pertains specifically to clauses on school admission and language policies. In his address during the bill signing ceremony at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Ramaphosa said the delay reflects a commitment to addressing concerns and ensuring cooperation from various political parties before the amendments take effect: 

# BetterBond says there’s a definite sense of optimism in the air ahead of next week’s meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the South African Reserve Bank. The national head of sales at BetterBond, Bradd Bendall, says not only has inflation dropped to its lowest rate in three years, but there are signs that the US Federal Reserve will drop its rates this month with SA likely to follow suit:

# A four-person crew on a private mission aboard a SpaceX capsule completed the world’s first commercial spacewalk yesterday. Billionaire tech CEO Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis became the first non-professional crew to perform a spacewalk. Crewmates Scott Poteet and Anna Menon stayed inside the capsule. The Polaris Dawn crew will spend another couple of days in orbit checking off remaining mission goals, this includes working through the rest of their list of nearly 40 experiments.

# Cricket: The inaugural Test between New Zealand and Afghanistan at a ground near Delhi in India has become just the eighth test in nearly 150 years to be abandoned without a ball being bowled. No play was possible on any of the five scheduled days due to a combination of a poor drainage system and wet weather. The Greater Noida ground, which was hosting its first Test, is now in jeopardy of losing its Test status.

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-79-cents and the euro at 19-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-37-cents and Bitcoin trades at 58-thousand-112-dollars-38-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-566-dollars-42-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 72-dollars-65-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry has paid tribute to former cabinet minister Pravin Gordhan. SACCI CEO Alan Mukoki praised his forthrightness and professionalism in economic policy. This includes his tenure as SARS Commissioner, Finance minister, and Public Enterprises minister. Mukoki acknowledged Gordhan’s pivotal role in fostering strong relations between business and government:

Stay tuned for more news………….