News 16:00

BULLETIN 31 July 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The repo rate is reduced by 25 basis points
# Tennis: Stefanos Tsitsipas’s father returns as his coach
# And the 2025 Forbes 50 Over 50 list spotlights trailblazing women

# Some good news for South Africans with debt. The Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank has decided to lower the repo rate by 25 basis points. This means the prime lending rate will drop to 10.5-percent from tomorrow.

# The African Continental Free Trade Agreement can help diversify trade and protect emerging economies from global uncertainty. Speaking at the Trade and Industrial Policy Strategy forum in Sandton, Johannesburg, Coordination and Programmes director, Tsotetsi Makong, cited Lesotho’s 3.6-billion-rand loss, due amongst others to a US import tariff of 50-percent. He urged African countries to boost intra-continental trade by consuming products made within the continent:

# The DA has raised alarm over the continued collapse of the City of Johannesburg, warning that little has improved ahead of the G20 summit in November. The party states residents still face dry taps, dangerous roads, and failed infrastructure, with no visible results from the so-called ‘bomb squad’ and the presidential working group. The DA’s Solly Msimanga says the city cannot afford delays or secretive spending while basic services continue to fail:

# “Please Call Me” inventor Nkosana Makate says he’s confident the Supreme Court of Appeal will compel Vodacom to pay him 9.4-billion-rand in compensation. Makate rejected Vodacom’s earlier offer of 47-million-rand. The Constitutional Court has now granted Vodacom leave to appeal and critisised the SCA for ignoring evidence and breaching the rule of law in its previous handling of the case. Makate says the appeal will lead to the next decision:

# Tennis: Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas’s father, Apostolos, is back as his coach after he ended his brief partnership with former world number two, Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia. Twenty-six-year-old Tsitsipas reached his highest world ranking of three in August 2021, but has deteriorated to 30th since. He fired his father as his coach last year. Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001, critisised Tsitsipas after he lost in this year’s first round, saying he had never seen a player more unprepared than him.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-11-cents and the euro at 20-rand-73-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-97-cents and Bitcoin trades at 118-thousand-465-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-305-dollars-52-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 71-dollars-75-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Forbes’ fifth annual 50 Over 50 list spotlights trailblazing women who have rejected the conventional wisdom that their best years are behind them. This year’s list is divided into four broad categories: impact, innovation, investment, and lifestyle. The list includes actress Halle Berry, who is laser-focused on women’s health, founder of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, Maria Shriver, and Krystal Biotech co-founder, Suma Krishnan, who is developing breakthrough solutions for diseases. Other notable names on the list include Meals on Wheels CEO Ellie Hollander and activist Monica Lewinsky.

Stay tuned for more news………….