News 16:00

BULLETIN 29 January 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The High Court postpones the pre-trial hearing of Matlala and his co-accused to next week Friday
# GOOD demands urgent intervention as the incentive scheme for the film industry collapses
# And cricket: Sri Lanka ramps up security for the Indian-Pakistan games in the T20 World Cup

# The High Court in Johannesburg has postponed the pre-trial hearing of Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala and his co-accused to next week Friday. The proceedings will get an update on whether Matlala can be held in Gauteng correctional facilities after he was transferred from Kgosi Mampuru to the super maximum eBongweni Correctional Facility in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal. Matlala is facing eleven counts of attempted murder, along with charges of conspiracy to commit murder, and money laundering. 

# Statistics South Africa says total liquidations last year fell slightly by 1.1-percent compared with 2024. Company liquidations decreased by 1.8-percent and close corporation liquidations dropped by 0.3-percent. Between October and December, liquidations fell 14.5-percent. Stats SA’s Onica Mushwana says in December alone, liquidations rose by 11-percent, with company liquidations up by 25 cases and close corporation liquidations down by 15 cases:

# The GOOD Party says the Department of Trade and Industry has made a crucial error in failing to safeguard its incentive scheme for the film industry. GOOD Youth Organiser Kaden Arguile says government must come to the negotiating table or risk the collapse of an industry pivotal not only to South Africa’s economy but also its identity:

# Cricket: Elite armed units will be deployed in Sri Lanka to boost security for the T20 World Cup it is co-hosting with India, with the emphasis on matches between political rivals India and Pakistan. Twenty matches will be played in Sri Lanka between 7 February and 8 March, with India and Pakistan competing at least once in the country. Sports minister Sunil Kumara says the elite commando units, usually assigned to guard visiting heads of state, will be deployed to protect all teams.  

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-75-cents and the euro at 18-rand-82-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 87-thousand-884-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-530-dollars-13-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-72-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The South African Photovoltaic Industry Association says registering small-scale embedded generation systems remains a critical legal and safety requirement. The Electricity Regulation Act requires all systems under 100 kilovolt-ampere to be registered with the network service provider, namely Eskom or municipalities, and comply with grid code requirements. The vast majority of residential systems are under 50 kilovolt-ampere. The association’s CEO, Rethabile Melamu, says constructive communication from distributors is essential, as registration protects homes and the national grid.

Stay tuned for more news………….