News 08:00

BULLETIN 5 January 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South Africa’s fuel price is set to fall to its lowest level in nearly four years
# The South African Post Office’s business rescue exit application is still pending
# And, all 40 victims from the Swiss New Year’s Eve ski resort fire have been identified

# The Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ latest fuel price adjustments will see the country’s fuel price fall to its lowest level in nearly four years. From Wednesday, petrol users will see prices decrease by 62-66 cents per litre, while diesel drivers will see a much larger cut between 137 and 150 cents per litre. The department’s spokesperson, Robert Maake, says the average international product prices of petrol followed the decreasing trend of crude oil:

# Communications and Digital Technologies minister Solly Malatsi has confirmed that the business rescue practitioners have not filed an application for the South African Post Office to exit business rescue. Malatsi says discussions are ongoing to finalise the affidavit for submission to the High Court. He stressed that appointing a new SAPO board is critical for a smooth transition. A multi-departmental task team has also been established to explore partnerships, asset disposal, and long-term sustainability post business rescue.

# A total of 552 people have been displaced after a fire tore through Khayelitsha’s Phakamani Road informal settlement in Cape Town. Nearly 200 shacks were destroyed in the blaze at the Tsepe Tsepe township, making it the largest incident recorded over the festive period. The City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management spokesperson, Charlotte Powell, says Gift of Givers is providing humanitarian relief to those affected:

# Swiss police have identified the bodies of all 40 victims of the New Year’s Eve bar fire in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana. A preliminary investigation has found that sparklers on bottles being carried too close to the ceiling are the likely cause of the Le Constellation bar fire, which left 119 others injured. The victims aged between 14 and 39 years old and are from ten countries, including Switzerland, France, the UK, Israel, Italy, and Portugal. Police have opened a criminal investigation into the managers of the Le Constellation bar.

# Cricket: The Paarl Royals secured a comprehensive seven-wicket bonus point victory against MI Cape Town in their SA20 encounter at Newlands. Zimbabwe international Sikandar Raza Butt took four wickets as the hosts were bundled out for just 88, their lowest SA20 total at Newlands. In reply, Englishman Asa Tribe scored 34 from 28 balls as the visitors reached the target with 42 balls to spare. The Royals have now leapfrogged Sunrisers Eastern Cape into second place on 13 points, just two points adrift of table-toppers Joburg Super Kings.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-51-cents and the euro at 19-rand-29-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-17-cents and Bitcoin trades at 92-thousand-916-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-409-dollars-97-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 60-dollars-62-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….