News 16:00

BULLETIN 19 September 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Reserve Bank lowers repo rate by 25 basis points
# The SACP leader Blade Nzimande honours the late Pravin Gordhan as a strategic communist leader
# And tennis: Naomi Osaka heads to the New Zealand tournament

# The Reserve Bank has decided to lower the repo rate by 25 basis points. This means the rate drops to 8-percent. Banks will lower the prime lending rate to 11.5-percent. The announcement follows the decision by the US Federal Reserve to drop interest rates by 50 basis points. It also comes a day after local inflation was reported at 4.4-percent in August, lower than the Reserve Bank’s target of 4.5-percent. It is expected that the rate will also be lowered at the bank’s next meeting in November.

# The South African Communist Party leader Blade Nzimande has honoured the late Pravin Gordhan at his funeral in Durban, calling him a skilled negotiator and communist. Nzimande highlighted Gordhan’s attention to detail and praised his brave fight against state capture and for safeguarding state-owned entities. He urges unions and political organisations to confront internal challenges in Gordhan’s memory:

# In response to rising violent crime, AfriForum has released a detailed, free guide to help South Africans legally obtain a firearm license. The guide covers the process from securing a competency certificate to applying for a license and acquiring a firearm. According to spokesperson Jacques Broodryk the guide emphasises effective training and responsible use, and it aims to empower citizens with the knowledge needed for safe firearm ownership:

# Israel’s police arrested an Israeli citizen allegedly recruited by Iranian intelligence to plot the assassinations of top Israeli officials including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to a statement an Israeli citizen was smuggled twice into Iran and received payment for carrying out missions. It said that Netanyahu, Defence minister Yoav Gallant, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, as well as other top officials were among the targets. The Israeli citizen is described as a businessman who lived in Turkey for an extended period and was introduced to an Iranian businessman.

# Tennis: Former world number one Naomi Osaka will return to the New Zealand’s premier tournament, the ASB Classic in Auckland. The Japanese 26-year-old started playing again this year after nearly two years off, which included the birth of her daughter Shai. Osaka became the first player in three decades to win each of her first four Grand Slam finals – the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021 and the US Open in 2018 and 2020.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-44-cents and the euro at 19-rand-44-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-15-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-52-dollars-75-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-589-dollars-40-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….