News 12:00

BULLETIN 9 December 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The High Court in Johannesburg dismisses a bid to freeze 40-percent of Makate’s ‘Please Call Me’ payout
# A 1995 World Cup gold medal goes under the hammer
# And South Africans are urged to deepen their commitment to unity this Reconciliation Month

# The High Court in Johannesburg has dismissed with costs an urgent application by litigation funder Black Rock Mining to freeze 40-percent of Vodacom’s settlement due to “Please Call Me” inventor Kenneth Makate. Judge Don Mahon ruled there was no evidence Makate planned to hide or dissipate the money, saying any dispute must proceed through normal legal channels. The case stems from an agreement in which Black Rock funded Makate’s litigation in exchange for a 40-percent share. The matter now moves to arbitration.

# Nelson Mandela University economist Andrew Phiri says the South African Reserve Bank’s new three-percent inflation target aims to protect the public, especially the poor. The target announced last month ended a 25-year framework of targeting a three to six-percent range. Phiri says South Africa is not growing fast enough for the new target to be effortless, emphasising that weak growth makes a strict target harder to maintain. He adds a low inflation target is supposed to help poorer households, but if it misfires, they suffer most. 

# Forum for South Africa says organisations, including AfriForum and Solidarity, need to be sanctioned for spreading lies about the country to the US. The lobby groups, who have embarked on highly publicised visits to America in the last few months, are accused of conspiring with foreign powers to undermine South Africa’s sovereignty. FOSA’s leader, Tebogo Mashilompane, says AfriForum and Solidarity must have their civil rights movement status revoked and criminally charged for attacking the state:

# Rugby: A gold medal from the 1995 World Cup is going on auction today. It belongs to former Springbok loose forward Adriaan Richter, who received it after South Africa’s 15-12 victory over the All Blacks in the final at Ellis Park. He didn’t play in the match, but was part of the champions’ team, including captaining South Africa in their group victory over Romania, and scoring two tries against Canada. The Old Johannesburg Warehouse Auctioneers have listed the medal with a starting bid of 30-thousand-rand.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-3-cents and the euro at 19-rand-82-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-70-cents and Bitcoin trades at 90-thousand-525-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-188-dollars-21-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 62-dollars-32-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Government is calling on South Africans to deepen their commitment to unity, healing, forgiveness and nation-building during Reconciliation Month. Deputy spokesperson, William Baloyi, says building on the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the government continues to implement programmes that promote social cohesion and democratic participation:

Stay tuned for more news………….