News 11:00

BULLETIN 20 September 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# ActionSA says Eskom’s tariff hikes will devastate struggling households
# Donald Trump criticises Jewish Americans who don’t vote for him
# And golf: LIV players are cleared for the US Ryder Cup and PGA Championship

# ActionSA has opposed Eskom’s proposed 36.15-percent tariff increase, warning it will severely impact struggling households. They advocate for decentralising the energy market and boosting municipalities to lessen dependency on the utility and reduce costs. In a parliamentary debate, ActionSA’s Malebo Kobe criticised the National Energy Regulator’s decision to let Eskom recover an additional eight-billion-rand, which might lead to a total increase of over 40-percent by next year:

# The widely expected pivot of the South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to now commence its interest rate cutting cycle is good news for business and consumers. This is the view of North-West University School of Business and Governance professor Raymond Parsons. The committee opted for a repo rate cut of 25 basis points to eight-percent. Parsons says the timing and pace of further interest rate reductions are now likely if the inflation outlook continues to improve:

# The EFF is calling for Parliament to establish an ad hoc committee to investigate municipalities and businesses failing to contribute to pension funds. EFF member of Parliament Sinawo Tambo highlights complaints from four-thousand employees and alleges there are eight-billion-rand’s unpaid contributions. The party wants the committee to have the authority to refer cases to the National Prosecuting Authority and the Special Investigating Unit. The motion will be debated when Parliament reconvenes.

# Former US president Donald Trump says if he loses the election in November, Jewish voters would have a lot to do with that. The Republican presidential candidate made the remarks during a speech at the Israeli-American Council national summit in Washington. A Pew Research survey found that 69-percent of registered Jewish voters defined themselves as Democrats, while 29-percent said that they consider themselves Republicans. Trump claimed he had been the best president by far for the Jewish community:

# Golf: Players signed to the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf League will be eligible for the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship going forward. LIV players will now be offered membership into the PGA of America, the same membership granted to PGA Tour players, those on the DP World Tour, and nine other circuits around the world. PGA of America says the decision to add LIV to its list of approved tours, is to ensure that the US Ryder Cup team continues to have access to the best American players.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-52-cents and the euro at 19-rand-58-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-35-cents and Bitcoin trades at 63-thousand-805-dollars-5-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-605-dollars-32-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-75-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….