News 11:00

BULLETIN 17 February 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Ramaphosa says infrastructure development is a strategic priority
# The president of SA Rugby says the sponsorship deal with Monster Energy is much-needed
# And disruptive rain in parts of the country will continue until Thursday

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says to achieve the levels of growth needed to create enough jobs, far more construction and reliable infrastructure maintenance is necessary. A recent report by Nedbank showed that the total value of new projects announced by the public and private sectors last year amounted to 445-billion-rand. In his weekly newsletter, the president says to date, 34 out of 50 strategic infrastructure projects are in implementation stage, worth 281-billion-rand. Ramaphosa adds that the Economic Infrastructure Task Team is also making headway in dealing with the construction mafia.

# Union federation Cosatu is concerned by the recent tensions between the US government and South Africa. US president Donald Trump has halted aid funding to the country over its expropriation policies, and there are pending tariffs on South African and other nations’ exports. Cosatu’s spokesperson, Matthew Parks, says they have full confidence in government’s steady and sober leadership during these turbulent geo-political tensions:

# The City of Ekurhuleni in Gauteng has assured residents that its power will not be disconnected. Eskom published a notice over the weekend, warning the metro about extended power cuts due to unpaid electricity bills. Ekurhuleni currently owes the power utility over 2.3-billion-rand, excluding its current account of a further 1.5-billion-rand, which is due on the seventh of March. The metro says it is actively servicing its current electricity bill and will work expeditiously to pay off the disputed portion.

# SA Rugby president Mark Alexander says the new four-year sponsorship deal with Monster Energy will provide additional financial support. A bid from Seattle-based Ackerley Sports Group for a 20-percent stake in the Commercial Rights Company, an entity created by SA Rugby to grow the value of its commercial activities, was rejected by the provincial unions in December. Alexander says not having a reserve fund is a huge problem:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-34-cents and the euro at 19-rand-24-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-10-cents and Bitcoin trades at 96-thousand-415-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-898-dollars-48-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 74-dollars-55-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The South African Weather Service says disruptive rain will continue across the central and eastern regions of South Africa until Thursday. The rainfall accumulation is expected to be in the region of 20 to 50 millimetres in provinces including North West, Gauteng, the Free State and Mpumalanga. Forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela says the transport of moist tropical air from continental low over Botswana is the main source of the current cloudy and showery conditions:

Stay tuned for more news………….