News 11:00

BULLETIN 20 March 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Deputy president Mashatile reaffirms South Africa’s commitment to strengthen ties with Japan
# Athletics: Bayanda Walaza breaks the 200-meter Under-20 SA record
# And Finland remains the happiest nation in the world

# Deputy president Paul Mashatile has concluded his working visit to Japan, reaffirming the strong cooperation between the two countries in areas of mutual interest. This year, the two nations mark 115 years of well-established diplomatic relations. Japan is a significant investor in the South African economy, with 273 firms operating in the country, sustaining over 200-thousand local employment opportunities. The Presidency says Mashatile also highlighted South Africa’s favourable business environment, skilled workforce, and strategic location, making it an attractive destination for Japanese investment.

# The GOOD Party is urging the South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to grant relief to cash-indebted consumers and reduce the repo rate today. A few economists are anticipating another 25 basis point cut. This follows three consecutive 25 basis point cuts in the rate since September. GOOD’s secretary general, Brett Herron, says consumers continue to face increasingly difficult decisions around spending:

# The Department of Health urges the public to be extra vigilant of mpox symptoms, as three more laboratory-confirmed cases of the disease have been detected in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. The newly detected positive cases are two male and one female, including a 14-year-old. The department’s spokesperson, Foster Mohale, says the patients are currently self-isolating and receiving appropriate clinical management. He adds they have activated outbreak response teams in Gauteng for contact tracing and case investigation:

# Athletics: Teen sensation Bayanda Walaza broke the South African Under-20 200-meter record at the Athletics SA Grand Prix in Johannesburg last night. The 2024 Olympic silver medallist won the item in a new personal best time of 20.08-seconds, taking 0.02-seconds off the national record of 20.10 set by Clarence Munyai in March 2017. Lucky Moleyane finished second with former World Championships finalist Luxolo Adams in third place. Walaza says he is continuously working on his form:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-16-cents and the euro at 19-rand-78-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-58-cents and Bitcoin trades at 85-thousand-820-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-and-46-dollars-64-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 70-dollars-78-cents a barrel.

# And finally, Finland has once again topped the World Happiness Report’s rankings for the eighth consecutive year. This year’s report ranks 147 countries by their happiness levels, based on a population’s average assessment of their quality of life from 2022 to 2024. Denmark is second, followed by Iceland, Sweden, and the Netherlands. South Africa is ranked 95th on the list. According to the report, researchers have found that the belief in the kindness of others, as well as actively caring about and sharing with others, has strong effects on happiness.

Stay tuned for more news………….