News 12:00

BULLETIN 10 September 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The Central Energy Fund advances plans to redevelop the Sapref refinery
# The DA says minister Schreiber is showcasing Home Affairs’ digital transformation to the world
# And motorsport: South Africa’s Brad Binder leaves MotoGP to join BMW in the Superbike World Championship

# The Central Energy Fund is moving ahead with plans to revive Durban’s mothballed Sapref refinery to triple South Africa’s oil refinery capacity. CEO Tshepo Mokoka says redevelopment will happen in three phases, starting with the use of existing infrastructure to import finished fuel products. In the longer term, the plan targets refining capacity of up to 650-thousand barrels a day. Sapref was bought for just one rand in 2024 after flood damage forced its closure. No funding or timelines have been announced. 

# KwaZulu-Natal police have arrested a third suspect, a 40-year-old woman, in connection with the murder of musician Warrick “DJ Warras” Stock outside a hijacked building in Johannesburg in December. Last month, the confessed gunman, Mozambican Armando Pacula, was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment. The case continues against the alleged orchestrator, Victor Majola. Police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda says the woman will appear in court soon:

# The DA says Home Affair’s current digital transformation shows the department is overcoming its historical association with queues, system failures and inefficiency. Minister Leon Schreiber is attending a congress in Dubai this week, showcasing his department’s rapidly accelerating digital transformation. The DA’s Adrian Roos says Home Affairs has embarked on an ambitious programme to replace outdated, paper-based and manual processes with secure digital systems that remove human discretion and combat fraud:

Moving abroad:

# Iran has condemned the International Atomic Energy Agency’s resolution on its alleged nuclear non-compliance. The United Nations’ atomic watchdog’s board of governors referred Tehran to the UN Security Council over failure to provide access to and verification of its nuclear material stocks. The resolution was drafted by the US, France, the UK and Germany. Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Reza Najafi, says it was passed under political pressure from the US:

# Motorsport: South Africa’s Brad Binder will make his FIM Superbike World Championship debut for BMW next year. The move will see the 30-year-old leave MotoGP after seven seasons, where he won two races. Binder will now line up alongside Miguel Oliveira, who was previously a teammate in 125 Grand Prix races in Moto2 and MotoGP. BMW Motorrad Motorsport boss Sven Blusch says Binder isn’t coming to WorldSBK simply to extend his racing career, but wants to fight for the World Championship title.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-4-cents and the euro at 18-rand-67-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-73-cents and Bitcoin trades at 78-thousand-84-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-405-dollars-25-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 103-dollars-31-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….