News 12:00

BULLETIN 9 February 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Mineral and Petroleum Resources will use the Mining Indaba to strengthen investor confidence
# The Christchurch mosque terrorist is seeking an appeal against his conviction
# And cricket: The Proteas captain is confident ahead of the T20 World Cup opener against Canada

# The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources says it will use the Mining Indaba to restore and strengthen investor confidence in South Africa’s mining sector. The indaba, which gets underway in Cape Town today, brings together African leaders, industry stakeholders, and investors to discuss the responsible development of the continent’s mineral resources amid global geopolitical uncertainty. The department says since the previous indaba, it has made significant progress in ensuring stability, policy certainty, and growth through the implementation of a transparent Mining Licensing System.

# Electricity tariffs are set to rise 8.76-percent in 2026/2027 and 8.83-percent in 2027/2028 after energy regulator Nersa approved additional revenue of 54.734-billion-rand for Eskom in a bid to correct Nersa’s regulatory asset base error. The increase will be implemented against Eskom direct customers from 1 April and municipal utilities from 1 July. Nersa’s spokesperson, Charles Hlebela, says the total additional revenue will be recovered in phases:

Meanwhile, parts of the Johannesburg CBD, including Newtown and Braamfontein, will be without electricity for the week after Friday’s fire at the Bree substation. City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena says repairs will begin today after safety clearances are completed. He says technicians are working to replace damaged infrastructure, with power expected to be restored by the end of the week.

Moving abroad:

# The Australian man who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, is seeking an appeal against his conviction. Brenton Tarrant was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole after pleading guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one of terrorism in March 2020. The 35-year-old told the New Zealand Court of Appeal in Wellington he was incapable of making rational decisions at the time he pleaded guilty because of torturous and inhumane conditions in prison.

# Cricket: Proteas captain Aiden Markram says they are confident heading into their opening T20 World Cup Group D clash against Canada in Ahmedabad, India, today. South Africa, who was runner-up in 2024, is one of the favourites to win the competition, following their World Test Championship triumph last year. Group D also consists of New Zealand, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates. Markram says they need to show due care when they face Canada:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 15-rand-99-cents and the euro at 18-rand-97-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-75-cents and Bitcoin trades at 70-thousand-340-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-and-26-dollars-90-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 67-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….