News 12:00

BULLETIN 23 September 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# President Cyril Ramaphosa champions sustainable and responsible nature conservation
# The FNB House Price Index shows strong momentum in August
# And Golf: The Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald is proud of Team Europe’s pay stance

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says nature knows no political barriers and South Africa is committed to preserving nature for present and future generations. He took part in the Africa Keystone protected area partnership Heads of State Dessert and Champagne reception on Monday, on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York. Ramaphosa says the 162 existing protected areas in Africa have the potential to collectively make a disproportionately large contribution to biodiversity conservation:

# The FNB House Price Index rose to 4.5-percent year-on-year in August, its fastest growth in more than three years and the fourth consecutive month of real house price increases. FNB Property Economist, Siphamandla Mkhwanazi says the Western Cape continues to lead, however Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal show renewed momentum. He emphasised that while demand and prices improve, mortgage lending remains subdued, as cautious credit conditions continue to shape the housing market recovery:

# Australian officials promised telecommunications giant Optus will have to face the consequences over a systems outage linked to multiple deaths. The incident last week left hundreds of people across more than half of the country unable to call emergency services for 13 hours. At least three people died as a result, and its chief executive has apologised to their families and the public for the unacceptable failure. Optus is one of the country’s two major providers, and is now under fire for its delayed handling of the incident.

# Golf: Captain Luke Donald says he’s proud of his European team after they rejected the chance to be paid for playing in the Ryder Cup. The PGA of America announced last year that Team USA would get paid for participating in the competition, breaking away from tradition. The Ryder Cup gets underway at Bethpage in New York on Friday. Donald says they don’t need any motivation or monetary rewards to play in this special competition:

# Financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-31-cents and the euro at 20-rand-43-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-37-cents and Bitcoin trades at 113-thousand-120-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-764-dollars-51-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-87-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Canadian rock legend Bryan Adams is officially bringing his Roll with the Punches Tour to South Africa in April next year. Four decades into his career, Adams is a Grammy-award winner with number one hits in more than 40 countries, alongside three Oscars and five Golden Globe nominations. His global hits include Everything I Do I Do It for You, Summer of ’69 and Run to You. Adams will perform in Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban. Tickets go on sale on Friday.

Stay tuned for more news………….