News 09:00

BULLETIN 5 February 9 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the keynote address at the Mining Indaba today
# Over 33-thousand people visited Home Affairs offices during the voter registration weekend
# And, South Africa’s Tyla wins a Grammy for her smash hit Water

# President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the keynote address at the Mining Indaba kicking off in Cape Town today. This year’s theme is, Embracing the Power of Positive Disruption: A bold new future for African Mining. The presidency says Ramaphosa’s participation in the Indaba underscores the significance of collaboration and sustainable development in the mining sector. It adds that his insights will contribute to disruptive discussions aimed at uncovering opportunities and addressing challenges within the industry.

# The Department of Home Affairs says it assisted more than 33-thousand-500 people in its offices and 105 mobile units during the final voter registration weekend. The overwhelming public response led to four Home Affairs offices operating beyond 5 pm in Gauteng and several other provinces. The department’s spokesperson, Siya Qoza, says over the two days, nearly 23-thousand-400 people came to collect their IDs, and another nine-thousand-100, mostly first-time applicants, applied for IDs:

# A state of emergency has been declared in Chile as at least 99 people have been killed in forest fires in the Viña del Mar and Valparaiso regions. Around 200 people have been reported missing. According to the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service, there are 161 active fires across the country. Around eight-thousand hectares of forest and urban areas have already been burnt. Valparaiso governor, Rodrigo Mundaca, says some of the fires could have been intentionally caused. This is believed to be Chile’s deadliest forest fire on record.

# Golf: The final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California will happen today after yesterday’s play was cancelled due to severe weather and safety concerns. US Open champion Wyndham Clark of the US holds a one-shot advantage over Switzerland’s Ludvig Åberg at the top of the leaderboard. The winner of last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, France’s Matthieu Pavon, is in third place two shots off the lead. This is the third time in six years that the tournament has gone to a fifth day.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-92-cents and the euro at 20-rand-40-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-86-cents and Bitcoin trades at 42-thousand-747-dollars-20-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-32-dollars-7-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-51-cents a barrel.

# And finally, South African singer and songwriter, Tyla, has won her first-ever Grammy award. The 22-year-old beat the likes of Burna Boy and Davido, to win in the new category Best African Music Performance for her smash hit Water. The amapiano-based pop song entered the Billboard Hot 100 last year, the first for a South African solo artist since Hugh Masekela in 1968. The song also went to number one on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs and Hip-Hop/R&B charts. Tyla says she cannot believe she won:

Stay tuned for more news………….