News 12:00

BULLETIN 23 May 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomes Ireland, Spain and Norway’s recognition of Palestine
# Vivo Energy plans to invest over ten-billion-rand in South Africa following its merger with Engen

# And Olympics: Sascoc says the right building blocks are in place for Team SA 

# President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed Ireland, Norway and Spain’s decision to recognise Palestine as a state. The three European nations say their landmark decision is the best way to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East. Ramaphosa says this means South Africa’s call for Palestine to be recognised, and for a peace process including a ceasefire, is gathering support:

# Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, says Vivo Energy, owned by global commodities trader Vitol, will invest an initial ten-billion-rand in its South African operations. This follows the company’s merger with Engen. Patel says this investment is part of a range of public interest and competition commitments, designed to prevent job losses and continue supply contracts with local refineries:

# At least nine people have died, including a minor, and about 50 were injured when part of a stage collapsed at an election rally in Mexico’s northern Nuevo León state. Officials say a gust of wind caused the incident. Presidential candidate Jorge Álvarez Máynez, who was delivering a speech when the accident happened, suffered minor injuries. Research group Data Cívica says at least 28 candidates have been attacked, with 16 killed, in the lead-up to the elections on the second of next month.

# Olympics: The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee says it is confident they have put the right building blocks in place for the Paris Games, which start on the 26th of July. The first 39 athletes to represent South Africa were announced last week, including Chad le Clos, Tatjana Smith, and Wayde van Niekerk. Sascoc vice president, Lwandile Simelane, says they have full confidence in the team:

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-37-cents and the euro at 19-rand-92-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-40-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-727-dollars-45-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-356-dollars-21-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 81-dollars-88-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Despite South Africa’s challenges with corruption, crime, and instability, a Global Reputation Study by Brand South Africa has rated the country’s perception as moderately positive, scoring 3.1 on a six-point Likert scale. Over ten-thousand participants from 70 global markets were surveyed. South Africa scored moderately negative on governance and internal policies and moderately positive on foreign affairs, culture, and ecosystems. Brand SA’s Ebrahim Deen says the majority of respondents mentioned the wildlife and beautiful nature as things that make the country stand out.

Stay tuned for more news………….