News 13:00

BULLETIN 20 November 1 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Consumer inflation drops to 2.8-percent in October which is the lowest since June 2020
# Construction projects worth 51.6-billion-rand were disrupted by extortionists within four years
# And tennis: Black market ticket prices for the Davis Cup Finals skyrocketed after Rafael Nadal’s retirement announcement

# Statistics South Africa announced consumer inflation dropped to 2.8-percent in October, the lowest level since June 2020. This marks a significant decrease from 3.8-percent in September, driven primarily by a sharp month-on-month decline in fuel prices. Food inflation also eased to the lowest level since 2019, as prices for maize meal, bread, and dairy products fell. StatsSA’s Patrick Kelly says categories like sugar and beverages recorded slight price increases: 

# Over 287 construction projects worth 51.6-billion-rand were disrupted by extortionists between 2018 and 2022. Smaller contractors, lacking resources to recover, were hit hardest with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal most affected. Speaking at the National Construction Summit in Durban, Public Works minister Dean Macpherson highlighted the impact, including vandalism and violence. He says government and stakeholders signed the Durban Declaration, committing to combat extortion through strengthened legislation:

# Greenpeace Africa says with COP29 in its final week, it continues to call for an ambitious loss and damage fund, as well as a new collective goal that reflects Africa’s climate finance needs. The conference currently being held in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, is seeking to agree on deals across a range of different issues including finance, carbon markets, and the future of fossil fuels. Greenpeace Africa says every moment of inaction costs lives and deepens the climate injustice faced by Africa.

# Tennis: Tickets for this week’s Davis Cup Finals in Málaga, Spain, resold for up to 460-thousand-rand. Interest in the always popular men’s teams competition has skyrocketed because of local hero Rafael Nadal’s retirement after playing for his country for the last time yesterday. Tickets initially sold for about one-thousand-900-rand, but became hot property since Nadal’s announcement. Teammate Carlos Alcaraz says the Davis Cup takes place every year, but saying goodbye to a legend of the sport, only happens once.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-13-cents and the euro at 19-rand-15-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-99-cents and Bitcoin trades at 93-thousand-463-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-625-dollars-8-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 73-dollars-54-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Consumers are being warned to be aware of the different marketing tactics used on Black Friday, particularly the rise of ambush marketing. According to BankServ Africa, their 3D-Secure service recorded 1.4-million Black Friday transactions in 2023, amounting to 1.39-billion-rand. This is a 17-percent increase from 2022. MANCOSA School of Public Administration programmer leader, Nestene Botha, says consumers must be cautious and avoid getting swept up in the hype:

Stay tuned for more news………….