News 18:00

BULLETIN 30 October 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa nears completion of the requirements to exit the grey list
# John Steenhuisen says the mid-term budget is the right diagnosis for restoring fiscal growth
# And South Africa’s maize harvest is expected to see a substantial drop of 22.6-percent for the 2023/’24 season

# South Africa is close to meeting the Financial Action Task Force’s requirements to combat financial crimes like money laundering and terrorism financing. In his first medium-term budget policy statement for the seventh administration, Finance minister Enoch Godongwana said only six items remain to be addressed by February next year, with 16 of the 22 requirements already fully or mostly completed: 

DA leader and Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen endorsed the mid-term budget, calling it the right step toward fiscal growth. Speaking outside Parliament, Steenhuisen commended the focus on debt reduction, infrastructure spending, halting bailouts for state-owned entities, and the end of e-tolls. He emphasises the DA’s role in driving reforms through the government of national unity, through economic growth and job creation:

# South Africa’s maize harvest is expected to see a substantial drop of 22.6-percent for the 2023/’24 season. The government’s Crop Estimates Committee projects a total harvest of about 12.72-million tons, a significant decline from last year’s 16-million tons. This is a slight decrease from the previous estimate of 12.8-million tons. This year’s yield will include six-million tons of white maize for human consumption and 6.72-million tons of yellow maize, mainly for animal feed. The committee has not explained why the harvest is lower this year, which raises concerns about food supply. 

# The University of Limpopo has temporarily suspended end-of-year examinations due to water supply issues. Vice-Chancellor and principal, professor Mahlo Makgolong, cited unhygienic conditions and expressed concern for the health and well-being of staff and students. The university assured that it will monitor the situation. A revised timetable will be shared in due course.

# Roadrunning: Johannesburg hosts the Soweto Marathon on Sunday, with races covering 42, 21 and 10 kilometres. The event starts at Nasrec at half-past-five the morning, with the routes impacting major roads such as Soweto Highway, Chris Hani Road and Vilakazi Street. The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department’s Xolani Fihla says they will manage road closures and monitor traffic, urging the public to cooperate to made the race a success:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-68-cents and the euro at 19-rand-13-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-2-cents and Bitcoin trades at 72-thousand-224-dollars-44-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-779-dollars-19-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-84-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….