News 11:00

BULLETIN 10 January 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa is confident about South Africa’s case against Israel
# The NSFAS board is vindicated by the ruling on the termination of the contract of its former CEO
# And, Economists anticipate a challenging economic landscape for South Africa in 2024

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says he is confident that South Africa has a strong case against Israel, set to be heard at the International Court of Justice tomorrow and Friday. South Africa is accusing Israel of genocide in its war on Gaza. Speaking in Mpumalanga during a visit to the Kingdom Houses of Amandebele yesterday, Ramaphosa, says this is a matter of human and general justice and that the genocide that is unfolding in Gaza should be stopped immediately:

# The board of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme says the Labour Court has vindicated its decision to terminate the contract of employment of former CEO, Andile Nongogo. The court dismissed Nongogo’s application for reinstatement, citing that it was procedurally correct for the board to make its decision on the backdrop of a report by Werksmans Attorneys. The scheme’s spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi, says the report implicated Nongogo in irregular conduct in the appointment of direct payment service providers:

# Economists anticipate a challenging economic landscape for South Africa this year. This projection is attributed to the unresolved energy issues, the pending elections, and a strained fiscal situation. High global interest rates are also expected to pose challenges for companies and consumers. The International Monetary Fund forecasts a global economic slowdown to 2.9-percent in 2024. Analysts, including Raymond Parsons and Dale McKinley, express cautious views, suggesting that reforms are vital for potential growth acceleration.

# The EFF in Gauteng says it strongly condemns the hasty, unwarranted, and unjustified dismissal of over 400 workers by Gold One Mine. The dismissal of the workers follows their involvement in the underground sit-ins at the mine’s operations in Springs, Ekurhuleni, late last year. The EFF says Gold One Mine, like many other mining companies, continues to display arrogance because it enjoys excessive authority over workers and is almost always unregulated by the government.

# Tennis: Australian Open chief Craig Tiley has defended the process of wildcard distributions. This comes after Arina Rodionova criticised Tennis Australia, claiming a personal vendetta cost her a wildcard into her home Grand Slam, despite being the country’s top-ranked women’s player. The 34-year-old suffered a straight-sets first-round loss in the Australian Open qualifying yesterday. Tiley says there are a lot of things that go into consideration in granting a player a wildcard including age, current form, and how many matches they’ve played.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-73-cents and the euro at 20-rand-47-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-78-cents and Bitcoin trades at 45-thousand-997-dollars-85-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-and-25-dollars-18-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-98-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….