News 16:00

BULLETIN 19 January 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The National Dialogue steering committee is to steward the integrity of the national dialogue process
# The National Employers’ Association of South Africa criticises BEE as harmful to South Africa
# And rugby: The Bulls, the Stormers and the Sharks qualify for the European play-offs  

# The National Economic Development and Labour Council executive director, Makhukhu Mampuru, says it is important that the National Dialogue, aimed at addressing challenges facing South Africa, is successful. The induction of the dialogue’s new steering committee was held in Pretoria yesterday. Mampuru says the committee’s role is to steward the integrity of the process, ensure meaningful participation, and oversee a phased roll-out of dialogues across provinces:

# CEO of the National Employers’ Association of South Africa, Gerhard Papenfus, says the race-based black economic empowerment scheme benefits only a politically-connected few while disadvantaging the wider population. He describes BEE as fraudulent, fostering quick-rich mentalities, eroding entrepreneurship, and imposing enormous economic costs. Papenfus warns BEE encourages dependence, greed, crime, and empty shareholding. He rejects claims that questioning the policy promotes white supremacy, and calls for sustainable wealth creation and policies that support South Africa’s economic growth.

# The City of Cape Town says fire statistics for the past eight weeks show increases year-on-year in both vegetation and residential fires. Fires in the different categories increased by between five- and 16-percent compared to the previous year. Mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says between 1 December and 15 January, three-thousand-492 vegetation fires, 332 informal residential fires and 244 formal residential fires were recorded:

# Rugby: The Stormers and the Bulls will be involved in the Champions Cup round of 16 in April, while the Sharks will contest the Challenge Cup playoffs. The Bulls’ bonus-point 26-24 victory over Pau in France secured them a place against Glasgow Warriors in Scotland, while the Stormers’ 39-26 victory over Leicester Tigers in Cape Town assured them a playoff spot against Toulon in France. The Sharks’ fifth-place finish in their pool earned them a Challenge Cup playoff match against Connacht.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-45-cents and the euro at 19-rand-14-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-7-cents and Bitcoin trades at 93-thousand-65-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-669-dollars-52-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-6-cents a barrel.

# And finally: North-West University has become the first South African university to adopt an official artificial intelligence policy. The university’s council approved the policy at its latest meeting, positioning the institution as a leader in AI governance in higher education. AI Hub director Anné Verhoef says the policy promotes a human-centred, ethical and responsible use of AI across teaching, research and management. The framework clarifies stakeholder roles, establishes Information Technology-led governance, and addresses sustainability concerns. Verhoef emphasises it sets a national benchmark for responsible AI adoption.

Stay tuned for more news………….