News 13:00

BULLETIN 28 January 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Government Business Partnership is committed to placing economic growth at the centre of its work
# The ANC in Ekurhuleni mourns the passing of its mayoral committee member Andile Mngwevu
# And tennis: Djokovic is through to the Australian Open semis after Musetti retires while leading by two sets

# The Presidency says government and business have agreed the central framework for phase three of the Government Business Partnership will be anchored in inclusive growth, jobs and confidence. President Cyril Ramaphosa met with ministers and senior business leaders yesterday. The meeting reviewed progress achieved during phase two, when important gains were made in stabilising the energy and logistics systems. The Presidency says they had also agree crime and corruption remain among the most significant deterrents to confidence, investment and economic growth. 

# The ANC in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, has expressed sadness at the passing of mayoral committee member for Roads and Transport, Andile Mngwevu. The 40-year-old went missing after the car he was travelling in with friends was swept away by floods in the Chokwé region of Mozambique. His body was recovered yesterday, ending an extensive search that began more than a week ago. ANC regional secretary Jongizizwe Dlabathi has described the incident as tragic:

# The Special Action Committee – Education has condemned what it terms the Western Cape Education Department’s continued and vindictive persecution of Wesley Neumann. The department announced it has filed an application for leave to appeal the decision of the Labour Court to reinstate Neumann as principal of Heathfield High School in Cape Town. The committee’s Colleen Titus says this case is no longer about one person:

# The Council on Higher Education and the South African Pharmacy Council have formally entered into a Memorandum of Agreement. This seeks to reduce unnecessary duplication in quality assurance processes, provide greater clarity on roles and responsibilities, and ease the regulatory burden on higher education institutions offering pharmacy programmes. The agreement also includes the formation of a joint steering committee to guide engagement, information sharing and conflict resolution. Council CEO Whitfield Green says this marks an important step towards a more coherent quality assurance system.

# Tennis: Record ten-time champion Novak Djokovic has scraped into the Australian Open semifinals after Lorenzo Musetti was forced to retire from their quarterfinal clash. The Italian sustained an upper right leg injury while leading the Serb 6-4, 6-3, 1-3. Djokovic, who is bidding for a standalone record 25th Grand Slam singles title, will face either defending champion Jannik Sinner of Italy or American Ben Shelton. Djokovic says he feels sorry for Musetti:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-88-cents and the euro at 19-rand-3-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-89-cents and Bitcoin trades at 88-thousand-829-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-271-dollars-68-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 66-dollars-40-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….