News 16:00

BULLETIN 17 January 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AfriForum seeks an urgent meeting to address farm attacks
# The Reserve Bank seeks a court order to access Markus Jooste’s data
# And rugby: Owen Farrell makes his comeback from an injury against the Stormers in Paris

# AfriForum has called for an urgent meeting with Police minister Senzo Mchunu to address the surge in farm attacks. Since last month, 33 attacks and seven murders have been reported, with some victims tortured. AfriForum’s Jacques Broodryk says there is a need for decisive action to protect rural communities and secure the agricultural sector. He proposes enhanced cooperation with police to strengthen safety measures:

# The South African Reserve Bank has turned to the courts to access data from phones and computers seized during a raid on the late Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste’s estate two years ago. The bank claims Jooste delayed data release until his death in March 2024. Despite the seizure, the Reserve Bank still lacks access to critical electronic files, including emails and spreadsheets, essential for ongoing investigations.

# The chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on Higher Education, Tebogo Letsie, urges South African institutions to consider online studies. This comes as 337-thousand-158 matriculants qualified for university, with only 202-thousand spaces available for 2025. The University of Johannesburg tops applications, receiving nearly 359-thousand applications for just ten-thousand-900 spots. Letsie highlights TVET colleges have 170-thousand spaces, but has cautioned students against bogus institutions:

Meanwhile, the Department of Basic Education reminds candidates to apply for re-marking or re-checking 2024 matric scripts before the 29 January deadline. Applications opened on 14 January, with fees set at 120-rand for re-marking, 30-rand for re-checking, and 230-rand for viewing scripts. Results will be released on 7 March. Registration for the Second Chance Matric Programme closes on 7 February.

# Rugby: Former England captain Owen Farrell will make his comeback from injury for Racing 92 in a Champions Cup match against the Stormers in Paris tomorrow. Coach Stuart Lancaster says maybe he will not play the full 80 minutes . Farrell, who won 112 caps for England, has yet to put his stamp on his time in the French capital. He played eight of the opening nine games in the Top 14 before undergoing a groin operation in mid-November.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-72-cents and the euro at 19-rand-29-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-83-cents and Bitcoin trades at 102-thousand-501-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-707-dollars-50-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-24-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….