News 11:00

BULLETIN 10 February 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Mcebisi Jonas says uncompromising policies are needed to draw investment towards the mining sector
# The United Nations’ chief is concerned about Israel’s new measures on the West Bank
# And motorsport: Fernando Alonso is ready for the new season, but unsure about his F1 future

# Special investment envoy to president Cyril Ramaphosa, Mcebisi Jonas, says South Africa urgently needs decisive and uncompromising policies, aimed at drawing meaningful investment towards the mining industry. Mining and its direct suppliers support nearly 900-thousand jobs and the livelihoods of 3.6-million citizens. Speaking on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Jonas said while considerable investment potential remained in the mining industry, investment windows continued to narrow. He adds the danger is with the gaps in policy windows and the planning cycle.

# AfriForum says consumers are once again paying the price for Eskom’s years of structural and management failures. Consumers will be saddled with price hikes of 8.76-percent in the 2026/2027 financial year, effective from April 1, and 8.83-percent for the next financial year. This follows after energy regulator Nersa finalised its redetermination of allowable revenue for Eskom. AfriForum’s Deidré Steffens says they will investigate the rationality of Nersa’s decision:

# Parliament’s standing committee on Public Accounts will consider the draft framework of its report this week, marking the final phase of its oversight enquiry into the Road Accident Fund. SCOPA says several issues emerged during the ten-week enquiry and will be addressed in the final report. These include the RAF’s decision to cancel its Panel of Attorneys, which partly led to default court judgements that now total 15.7-billion-rand, and the introduction of the new RAF 1 claim form, which requires claimants to spend up to 100-thousand-rand to register a claim.

Moving abroad:

# United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has expressed concern at the Israeli security cabinet’s decision to authorise a series of administrative and enforcement measures in certain areas of the occupied West Bank, aimed to increase Israeli control over property law, planning, licensing and enforcement. Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says Guterres calls on all parties to preserve the only path to lasting peace, a negotiated two-state solution:

# Motorsport: Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso feels ready to compete at the highest level, but is uncertain about his long-term future in Formula One. The 44-year-old Spaniard last won a Grand Prix in 2013 with Ferrari. He took his titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006. Alonso, who joined Aston Martin in 2023, says despite being the oldest driver in F1, he remains fully motivated after a record 425 starts:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-93-cents and the euro at 18-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-78-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-52-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-and-28-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-82-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….