News 12:00

BULLETIN 3 June 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Government monitors global and domestic factors that influence fuel costs
# The WMO estimates an 80-percent risk that an El Niño episode will occur in the next three months
# And soccer: Bafana Bafana’s visa drama is finally over as the assistant coach is cleared to travel to Mexico

# Government says it continues to monitor global and domestic factors that influence fuel costs and their impact on households and businesses. This follows the latest petrol price increase of one-rand-43-cents per litre, while diesel prices has dropped by as much as three-rand-23-cents a litre. Government spokesperson William Baloyi says efforts are underway to cushion consumers from further fuel price hikes:

# The Bureau for Economic Research and Rand Merchant Bank’s Business Confidence Index fell eight points to 39 in the second quarter. New vehicle dealers, wholesalers, retailers and building contractors recorded the sharpest decline. Manufacturing was the only sector to show improvement, albeit by one point, but it is still suppressed due to demand weakness. RMB chief economist Isaah Mhlanga says the decline is disappointing, but not unexpected given the severe deterioration in the global macro-economic backdrop, rather than any major failure in South Africa’s domestic fundamentals.

# The Freedom Front Plus says the continued spread of foot-and-mouth disease in Gauteng and the fact that much of the province’s livestock is unregulated and unregistered, poses a serious risk to the agricultural sector. Government’s goal is to vaccinate 80-percent of South Africa’s national cattle herd by the end of the year. FF Plus spokesperson Jaco Mulder says the greatest challenge for the Department of Agriculture remains the inability to effectively monitor and verify the movement and origin of all livestock:

# The World Meteorological Organisation says there is an 80-percent chance that El Niño will emerge from this month to August, and a near 90-percent probability of it persisting through at least November. The periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean typically drives more extreme weather and rainfall patterns. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says this shows the need for ​a shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy:

# Soccer: Local governing body SAFA says Bafana Bafana’s assistant coach, Helman Mkhalele, and head of security, Mdu Mbatha, have left to join the rest of the team in Mexico for the World Cup after finally securing their visas. Their initial applications were denied by the US consulate general in Johannesburg for unspecified reasons. SAFA says both officials were granted visas following intervention from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation. Bafana Bafana is due to play a final warm-up friendly against Jamaica on Friday.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-29-cents and the euro at 18-rand-92-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-91-cents and Bitcoin trades at 66-thousand-947-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-455-dollars-18-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 97-dollars-64-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….