News 12:00

BULLETIN 29 October 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa calls for unity ahead of the local government elections
# The International Monetary Fund says South Africa needs to deliver faster economic reforms to lift growth
# And Namibia raises its interest rate as high fuel prices continue to pose a risk

# With South Africans heading to the polls next week, president Cyril Ramaphosa has called for unity, saying divisions should not be allowed to undermine citizens’ democratic rights. He addressed the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 170th anniversary gala dinner. Forty-three suspected political assassinations were recorded between January and last month. Ramaphosa says local government is where many of democracy’s aspirations must find practical expression, and where people experience the quality of public services:

Meanwhile, the DA says with just a few days to go before the local government elections, there must be fair and equitable treatment of all political parties. The party has secured a court order requiring radio stations that failed to broadcast its allocated party election broadcasts to make corrective broadcasts. These are free blocks of radio and television airtime allocated to contesting political parties and independent candidates. The DA’s Ashor Sarupen says missed broadcasts deprive voters of the opportunity to fairly assess what parties can offer

# The International Monetary Fund says South Africa is restoring fiscal credibility despite geopolitical risks, but needs to deliver faster economic reforms to lift investment and growth. It sees the country’s growth rate at one-percent this year, 0.2 percentage points less than National Treasury’s estimate. It also projects debt-to-gross domestic product stabilising over the next five years. The IMF’s Tidiane Kinda says to get the growth rate to as high as four-percent, South Africa needs to fast-track reforms to attract more private investment in power generation and logistics.

Meanwhile, Namibia’s central bank has raised its main interest rate by 25 basis points to seven-percent as inflation accelerated to 5.4-percent – the highest level since January 2024. It has kept its growth outlook unchanged at 2.1-percent this year and 2.8-percent next year, although foot-and-mouth disease, weaker global growth and potential El Niño conditions still pose risks. Governor Ebson Uanguta says they are mitigating the effects of high fuel prices and safeguarding the currency peg with South Africa’s rand:

# Rugby: Sharks prop Thomas du Toit says the team is confident heading into Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash with Munster in Limerick, Ireland. The Durban-based club bounced back from their 39-22 defeat to the Stormers with consecutive victories over Lyon in the Challenge Cup and Cardiff in the URC. While the Sharks have rediscovered their winning touch under coach JP Pietersen, their scrum remains a work in progress. Du Toit has urged patience:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-64-cents and the euro at 18-rand-53-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-15-cents and Bitcoin trades at 79-thousand-938-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-and-31-dollars-48-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 115-dollars-29-sents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….