News 11:00

BULLETIN 22 November 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# An economist warns about the risks for South Africa’s economic outlook
# The police are investigating threats against the CEO of the Public Protector
# And Netanyahu accuses the International Criminal Court of being politically biased

# Stellenbosch Business School economist André Roux has warned that rising electricity prices and a weaker rand could hurt South Africa’s economy and push inflation higher. This comes as the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee unanimously cut the repo rate by 25-basis points, bringing it down from eight-percent to 7.75-percent, effective from today. Roux recommends a cautious approach to economic policy to avoid worsening these risks:

# Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka says police are investigating threats made to the Chapter 9 institution’s CEO, Thandi Sibanyoni. The threats are over the ten-million-rand gratuity that former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane claims she is owed. Last month, Gcaleka told Parliament that Mkhwebane’s husband, David Skosana, made threatening calls and sent messages to Sibanyoni. She says among the text messages sent, one was from an unknown number to Sibanyoni threatening her sons if she did not pay Mkhwebane.

# Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the International Criminal Court is a politically biased and discriminatory body. This comes as the court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former Defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and Hamas’s military chief, Mohammed Deif, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Netanyahu says Israel will not yield to pressure, and will not retreat until all the goals of the war against Hamas are achieved:

# Rugby: Veterans Sam Cane and TJ Perenara will play their final Test for the All Blacks against Italy in La Nucia tomorrow night. Cane, a former captain who played 103 Tests for New Zealand, will wear the number seven jersey, and scrumhalf Perenara will earn his 89th cap from the bench. Both will play club rugby in Japan from next year, making them ineligible for the national team. Head coach Scott Robertson made five changes to the team that lost narrowly to France in Paris last weekend.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-11-cents and the euro at 18-rand-95-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 99-thousand-3-dollars-10-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-690-dollars-82-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-95-cents a barrel.

# And finally, the Amy Foundation is having its annual gala dinner and auction at the Century City conference centre in Cape Town tomorrow evening. The legendary musician, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, will be awarded the foundation’s Ubuntu Award, recognising her extraordinary contributions to social upliftment and her embodiment of compassion and community spirit. This year, the foundation aims to raise one-million-rand through the auction. The foundation touches the lives of more than two-thousand beneficiaries every year through its innovative After-School Programmes and Youth Skills Development Programmes.

Stay tuned for more news………….