News 06:00

BULLETIN 26 January 6 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Turkish counterpart speak telephonically to discuss Israel
# The Reserve Bank predicts a low fuel price inflation in 2024
# And, an accused in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial says he was offered three-million-rand to implicate people

# The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has confirmed that he had a phone call with president Cyril Ramaphosa where they discussed regional and global issues. These include the Israeli attacks on Palestine and the bilateral relations between Turkey and South Africa. This comes as the International Court of Justice will rule on South Africa’s genocide case against Israel today, where an order could be granted for Israel to immediately cease its military operations in Gaza. Erdogan says Israel, which committed crimes against humanity, must receive the punishment it deserves.

# According to the South African Reserve Bank, fuel price inflation is expected to be low, averaging below one-percent this year. There is, however, a slight upward revision for food price inflation to 5.7-percent, but it remains broadly unchanged over the forecast period. In his media briefing, governor Lesetja Kganyago said the Monetary Policy Committee has recommended additional means of strengthening economic conditions. He says these include achieving a prudent public debt level, increasing the supply of energy, and maintaining low administered price inflation:

BetterBond CEO Bradd Bendall has meanwhile commended the decision to keep the repo rate unchanged. He believes it is a positive sign and a relief from home loan pressures. The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee unanimously opted to maintain interest rates for the fourth consecutive meeting, leaving the repo rate at 8.25-percent and the prime lending rate at 11.75-percent. Bendall says the decision points to stabilisation in the interest rate environment:

# One of the men accused of the 2014 murder of soccer star Senzo Meyiwa has made a startling claim in the High Court in Pretoria. Accused number 2, Bongani Ntazi, through his lawyer, Thulani Mngomezulu, stated he had been offered three-million-rand to implicate certain individuals in the case. Ntazi alleges lead investigator Bongani Gininda offered him the money to sign a confession statement that would implicate unnamed individuals.  Gininda vehemently denies the accusations, stating his unit has no such funds or motive.

# Rugby: The European Professional Club Rugby Disciplinary Committee has dismissed a citing charge against Lions hooker PJ Botha, meaning he will be available for the United Rugby Championship Cup clash against the Bulls tomorrow. He was cited for striking Ospreys back row, Harri Deaves, in a dangerous manner during their match last week Sunday. The committee says it found that Botha had committed an act of foul play, however, it decided that the offence did not warrant a red card, and the citing complaint was therefore dismissed.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-86-cents and the euro at 20-rand-46-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-98-cents and Bitcoin trades at 39-thousand-900-dollars-34-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-22-dollars-48-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-53-cents a barrel.

# And finally, romantic Britons are worried there may be a shortage of roses in the country for Valentine’s Day. This is caused by new border checks instituted since the country left the European Union. The British government is asked for a guarantee to ensure enough roses. Labour Member of Parliament Daniel Zeichner says people dealing with the import of plant and animal health products are seriously concerned about the situation. He says, for instance, the process of importing a petunia from the Netherlands has already increased from 19 to 59 steps.

Stay tuned for more news………….