News 08:00

BULLETIN 20 September 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Government welcomes the interest rate drop and the improvement of inflation
# The EFF rejects the interest rate cut
# And rugby: The Springbok Women secures a comprehensive win over Spain

# Government says the interest rate cut provides much-needed relief to businesses and households, as the economy recovers from recent challenges. The South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee has cut the repo rate by 25 basis points, bringing it down to eight-percent. This is the first reduction in four years. Government’s spokesperson, Nomonde Mnukwa, says this positive move by the Reserve Bank comes at a time when economic indicators are showing encouraging signs of stability:

Meanwhile, the EFF has rejected the decision to cut interest rates. Spokesperson, Leigh-Ann Mathys, says while they welcome the much-needed relief for the working class and consumers, the extreme conservatism demonstrated by the Reserve Bank remains a grave concern:

# Former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng has lost his fourth appeal to avoid repaying the 11.5-million-rand success fee awarded to him in 2016. The Constitutional Court rejected his appeal, reaffirming previous rulings that the payment was unlawful. Motsoeneng must repay the amount, with interest, as his employment contract did not permit such bonuses. The Special Investigating Unit continues to recover the remaining funds from his pension benefits.

# The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is warning that repeated Russian attacks on energy infrastructure and power cuts in Ukraine will likely uproot an additional 500-thousand people. Nine waves of long-range and large-scale coordinated attacks have occurred on Kyiv’s electric power system between March and August this year. The UN says the multiple aspects of the military campaign to damage or destroy Ukraine’s civilian electricity and heat-producing and transmission infrastructure have violated foundational principles of international humanitarian law.

# Rugby: The Springbok Women defeated Spain 36-19 in a Test at the Cape Town Stadium. Libbie Janse van Rensburg, one of the try scorers, became the first Springbok Women player to score more than 200 test points. The match was a preparation for the second edition of the Women’s Fifteen, which starts at the end of the month. Performance coach, Swys de Bruin, praised the defensive attitude and attacking prowess of his team:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-48-cents and the euro at 19-rand-53-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-25-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-355-dollars-64-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-592-dollars a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-74-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….