News 09:00

BULLETIN 17 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The South African Reserve Bank starts a process to discontinue the prime lending rate
# Minister Hlabisa says the government is working to strengthen safe initiation practices
# And, Britain looks at a ban on social media for under-16s

# The South African Reserve Bank is proposing the scrapping of the prime lending rate, a rate at which banks lend to consumers, and replacing it with the Reserve Bank policy rate, which is commonly called the repo rate. The prime rate has been fixed at 350 basis points since 2001. In a consultation paper, the bank says the prime lending rate has become detached from its original purpose as the base rate for pricing credit. It adds that the proposed reform is part of ongoing efforts to modernise South Africa’s interest rate benchmarks.

# Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Velenkosini Hlabisa, says illegal initiation schools remain a major contributing factor in the high number of initiates’ deaths in the country. Nearly 50 initiates died in the 2025 summer initiation season nationwide. Hlabisa says government has intensified efforts to promote and strengthen safe initiation practices, including shutting down illegal schools, ahead of the 2026 winter initiation season:

# The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has condemned the illegal mining happening near the Gugulethu informal settlement in Springs, Gauteng. Scores of residents of Payneville have been digging since last week after the alleged discovery of gold particles in a kraal. Some alleged the site was a former mine dump, while others claimed it lay above an old sewer line. The department’s Mmadikeledi Moloto says any mining activity conducted without any permits or mining rights constitutes a criminal offence:

# Britain could bring in an Australian-style ban on social media for children under 16 this year already. Government could also close a loophole that left some AI chatbots outside safety rules, as part of its efforts to respond more quickly to digital risks. The new measures will be introduced as an amendment to existing crime and child-protection legislation being considered by Parliament. Spain, Greece and Slovenia are also working on bans after Australia became the first country in the world to block access to under-16s.

# Tennis: World number two Jannik Sinner returned to winning ways on his Qatar Open debut in Doha. The Italian, playing in his first match since losing to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals, defeated the Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac, 6-1, 6-4. Sinner will face Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the last 16, after he eased past Qatari wild card Mubarak Shannan Zayid, 6-0, 6-2. Russia’s Daniil Medvedev claimed a 6-4, 6-2 win over China’s Shang Juncheng, while sixth-seeded Czech Jakub Mensik overcame Briton qualifier Jan Choinski 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-99-cents and the euro at 18-rand-94-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-77-cents, and Bitcoin trades at 68-thousand-311-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-955-dollars-8-cents a fine ounce, and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-79-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….