News 11:00

BULLETIN 8 Augustus 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Business organisations urge Eskom to drop its legal action over Nersa’s trading licences
# Donald Trump says Armenia and Azerbaijan will today sign a historic peace deal
# And rugby: Rassie Erasmus is committed to nurturing young players for the future

# Business Leadership South Africa and Business Unity South Africa urge Eskom to withdraw its legal fight against electricity trading licences issued by the energy regulator, Nersa. The two business bodies state the power utility’s litigation undermines energy reforms, delays private investment, and prolongs load-shedding. BLSA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso urged the government to intervene, calling on Eskom to support the national grid’s expansion and the introduction of competitive electricity markets:

# The Free Market Foundation is calling on Parliament to repeal the Expropriation Act and introduce a just and equitable land reform programme. The act provides a common framework to guide the processes and procedures for the expropriation of property by organs of state. The foundation says the legislation is dangerous and unconstitutional, and cannot achieve any land reform gains. It adds the most important short-term recommendation is that the current act must be replaced with an Expropriation Control Act, which normalises expropriation law in South Africa.

# The GOOD Party says Basic Education minister, Siviwe Gwarube, appears to be using regulations to undermine the intention of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act and the now amended South African Schools Act. The minister has published the first two regulations under the BELA Act for public comment. The regulations relate to key issues like school admissions. GOOD’s secretary general, Brett Herron, says the gazetting of the regulations, nearly eight months after the act came into effect, has revealed serious concerns:

Moving abroad:

# US president Donald Trump says he will host the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House today for what he calls a historic peace summit. The expectation is that a peace agreement will be signed to end decades of conflict between the South Caucasus nations. The two countries went to war twice over the disputed Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan recaptured from Armenian forces in 2023. Trump says the US will also sign bilateral agreements with both countries to pursue economic opportunities.

# Rugby: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus plans to continue building squad depth and nurturing young talent for the future. The Boks wrapped up their two-week conditioning camp in Johannesburg, which included three Junior Springbok World Rugby Under-20 Championship winners. Erasmus says during the camp, Bathobele Hlekani, Cheswill Jooste, and Haashim Pead were exposed to what is required to perform at the highest level of the sport. The Boks will reassemble on Sunday, where their focus will turn to the Rugby Championship.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-70-cents and the euro at 20-rand-62-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-78-cents and Bitcoin trades at 116-thousand-609-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-396-dollars-94-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-72-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….