News 14:00

BULLETIN 23 January 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A Reuters poll predicts the Reserve Bank is set to cut rates by 25 basis points next week
# Minister Dion George secures fishing rights for small-scale fishers
# And the death toll in the fire at a ski resort hotel in Turkey rises to 78

# A Reuters poll predicts that the South African Reserve Bank is expected to lower its repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5-percent on 30 January, with another cut forecast in March. Economists predict the bank will delay a final cut to the third quarter. Inflation remains below the Reserve Bank’s target, but global uncertainties, including US policies, could impact future rate adjustments. According to the poll, South Africa’s economy is projected to grow by 1.7-percent this year.

# The minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, Dion George, has overturned 36-percent of appeals, granting small-scale fishers access to species like lobster, abalone, and hake. While quotas remain unchanged, over 60 coastal co-operatives will benefit. The DA’s Andrew de Blocq says this marks a shift from prior mismanagement, ensuring fishing rights align with cultural traditions while addressing sustainability and poaching concerns:

# The GOOD Party has accused the DA-led Western Cape government of prioritising services in predominately white areas, leaving mainly black and coloured areas under-resourced. The party’s secretary-general, Brett Herron, says common sense would have assumed the province’s two-thousand-407 teacher post cuts would be evenly distributed across the one-thousand-468 public schools. He says this has not happened as the bulk of the cuts are in schools, which predominantly serve black and coloured learners:

# The fire at a ski resort in Turkey is now known to have killed 78 people. Entire families perished when the inferno swept through the Grand Kartal Hotel at the Kartalkaya resort in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Questions have multiplied about fire safety measures at the luxury 12-storey building which has only one fire escape and no sprinkler system. The fire alarm also didn’t work. Eleven people have been arrested, including the hotel’s owner, general manager, and chief electrician, as well as the local fire chief.

# Rugby: The four South African teams can all be in the top eight of the United Rugby Championship after this weekend. The Bulls are currently fourth, the Sharks fifth, the Stormers tenth and the Lions 12th. The Lions will host the Bulls at Ellis Park, the Stormers are away to Leinster and the Sharks play Cardiff. The Lions need to beat the Bulls to move into the top eight while the Stormers are just one point behind eighth-placed Edinburgh with one more game to play than the Scottish team.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-55-cents and the euro at 19-rand-32-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 101-thousand-811-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-746-dollars-45-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 78-dollars-20-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….