News 15:00

BULLETIN 4 November 3 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The IEC says consultations on the date of the 2026 elections are still ongoing
# The monthly new vehicle sales in South Africa reach the highest level in ten years
# And tennis: Novak Djokovic confirms his participation in the ATP Finals

# The Electoral Commission says it’s on track with preparations for next year’s local government elections. Over 305-thousand new voters have registered between January and September this year, most using digital platforms. A total of 508 political parties are currently registered. Deputy chief electoral official Masego Sheburi told the media consultations are still underway to determine the exact date for the elections:

# Crime Intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo says a threat and risk assessment was conducted after a senior prosecutor requested protection for Witnesses A and B before the Madlanga commission. Khumalo explained that such assessments are standard within Crime Intelligence, involving detailed security checks on individuals and their surroundings. He told the commission the investigation concluded that the threat level against the investigators and witnesses was high:

# Naamsa anounced South Africa’s new vehicle market continued its upward trajectory last month, supported by easing inflation, a firmer rand, continued signs of improving consumer sentiment, and demand recovery in key export markets. Aggregate domestic new vehicle sales rose to over 55-thousand-900 units last month, the highest monthly total since March 2015. It increased by seven-thousand-774 units, or 16-percent compared to the 48-thousand-222 units in October last year. For the year to date the new vehicle market is now 15,7-percent ahead of the same period in 2024.

# Tennis: World number five Novak Djokovic has confirmed he plans to participate in the ATP Finals, starting in Turin, Italy, on Sunday. There was concerns over the fitness of the 38-year-old Serbian, who last played in last month’s Shanghai Masters in China, where he was eliminated in the semifinals. He then skipped the Paris Masters. The top-eight players in the world will play in the round-robin tournament, with Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and local player Lorenzo Musetti fighting it out for the final qualifying spot.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-43-cents and the euro at 20-rand-4-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-78-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-520-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-994-dollars-42-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-90-cents a barrel.

# And finally, digital bank TymeBank has received approval from the South African Reserve Bank to appoint Cheslyn Jacobs as CEO, effective from the first of January. Jacobs, a founding member of TymeBank, succeeds Karl Westvig, who will remain as an advisor. Chairperson Thabani Jali praised Jacobs’ customer and strategic insight, saying it positions him to drive TymeBank’s next growth phase. Westvig was credited for expanding TymeBank’s commercial offering and customer base, now exceeding eleven-million users.

Stay tuned for more news………….