News 11:00

BULLETIN 24 January 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The FF Plus is going to challenge the new Expropriation Act in the Constitutional Court
# Global market challenges hamper South African wine exports
# And tennis: Alexander Zverev is through to his first Australian Open final

# The Freedom Front Plus says it will do everything in its power as a member of the government of national unity, to have an amendment bill issued to address the Expropriation Act’s unconstitutionality. The law sets out how organs of the state may expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons. FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald says the act is prejudicial to property owners in favour of the expropriating authority. He adds they will approach the Constitutional Court:

# South Africa’s wine exports faced a shrinking global market in 2023, achieving four-percent value growth to 10.4-billion-rand. Wines of South Africa CEO, Siobhan Thompson, says packaged wine sales rose four-percent to 7.9-billion-rand, while bulk wine sales grew six-percent to 2.4-billion-rand despite lower volumes. Thompson says global wine consumption has dropped ten-percent since 2008, with inflation and geopolitical tensions worsening the decline. However, key markets like Africa, Canada, and Japan showed growth for South African wines.

# Western Cape MEC for Finance Deidré Baartman has commended four municipalities that have qualified for debt write-off for money owed to Eskom. The Matzikama Municipality has qualified for a 37.7-million-rand write-off, Cederberg 15-million-rand, Kannaland 14.8-million-rand, and Beaufort West 25.6-million-rand. Baartman says diligent oversight has been performed by the provincial Treasury’s analysts, who have also provided support and advice to enable the municipalities to improve their compliance with Eskom’s conditions:

# The United Nations says while progress has been made towards the 2030 education targets, continued efforts are required to ensure that quality education is accessible to all. Today is International Day of Education under the theme, A-I and Education: Preserving human agency in a world of automation. According to the UN, 244-million children and adolescents around the world are out of school while 617-million cannot read or do basic math. UN secretary-general, António Guterres, says education is a basic human right globally that must be respected always.

# Tennis: World number two Alexander Zverev is through to his first Australian Open final after ten-time champion Novak Djokovic was forced to retire due to injury in their semifinal clash. The German, who is seeking his maiden Grand Slam title, won the first set 7-6 when the Serb could not overcome the upper-leg injury he sustained in the quarterfinals. Zverev, who will face either Italy’s Jannik Sinner or American Ben Shelton, says he has learnt a lot from his two Grand Slam final losses:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-37-cents and the euro at 19-rand-21-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-76-cents and Bitcoin trades at 104-thousand-750-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-277-dollars-3-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-59-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….