News 09:00

BULLETIN 1 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Department of Mineral Resources picks a Canadian-South African consortium to develop a mining licensing system
# The DA pushes for an independent Anti-Corruption Commission
# And golf, the PGA Tour unveils a partnership deal to reward players who resist LIV 

# The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has chosen a Canadian-South African consortium to design, implement, and maintain a new mining licensing system. The Minerals Council South Africa estimates a backlog of more than three-thousand applications for prospecting and mining rights, with an investment value of more than 30-billion-rand. PMG Consortium is a conglomeration of three companies, Canadian group Pacific GeoTech Systems and two South African companies, MITS Institute and Gemini GIS and Environmental Services. The department says addressing the backlog will boost mining exploration.

# The DA says it is now more pertinent than ever that an independent anti-corruption body be established to fight corruption and cadre deployment. In the latest Corruption Perception Index, South Africa scored 41 out of a possible 100, its worst-ever ranking. The DA’s, Glynnis Breytenbach, says this level of increased corruption within South Africa can be attributed directly to the ANC’s systemic infiltration of the public sector and cadre deployment:

# Slightly cooler night temperatures only brought some relief to firefighters battling multiple fires in Worcester, Wolseley, and Rawsonville in the Cape Winelands Municipality. There are currently nine firefighting vehicles with crew and an additional 65 ground crew members on the scene. The municipality’s spokesperson, Jo-Anne Otto, says the South African Weather Service has predicted temperatures above 38 degrees Celius today, which will impact firefighting activities:

# Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, apologised directly to families who say their children were harmed, including committing suicide, by social media during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. The CEOs of Meta, Snap, TikTok, X previously known as Twitter, and Discord, faced intense questioning from senators about protecting children online. Zuckerberg, who runs Instagram and Facebook, told the families that they are going to continue industry-wide efforts to limit harmful content on their platforms. Congress has yet to pass meaningful legislation to regulate social media companies.

# Golf: The PGA Tour has launched a deal of around 56-billion-rand with Strategic Sports Group, led by premier league side Liverpool owners, Fenway Sports Group. Players who have remained loyal to the tour and rejected advances from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf are set to receive 28-billion-rand in immediate and future equity. The funds will be realised to players according to career accomplishments, recent achievements, and future participation. Former world number one, Jordan Spieth, says this investment could put the PGA Tour in its ever-strongest position:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-68-cents and the euro at 20-rand-18-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-68-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-40-dollars-27-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-45-dollars-6-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 80-dollars-82-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….