News 13:00
BULLETIN 8 May 1 pm
Good afternoon. I am……..
In this bulletin:
# Moody’s cuts South Africa’s 2025 growth forecast to 1.5-percent
# Motorsport: SA’s Bradley Cox steps up to the RallyGP category
# And government urges citizens to unite in safeguarding the dignity of children
# Moody’s has revised South Africa’s GDP growth forecast for this year down to 1.5-percent, a 0.2-percentage point downgrade from its February projection of 1.7-percent. It cites global policy uncertainty and rising trade tensions. Local economists believe even this projection is optimistic, suggesting National Treasury may lower estimates further in the budget. The downgrade reflects ongoing domestic economic challenges and a weakening global environment. Moody’s global outlook predicts the world economy will grow by 1.9-percent this year, and 2.3-percent next year.
# ActionSA says it will ask Communications and Digital Technologies minister, Solly Malatsi, for his urgent intervention into the State Information Technology Agency to stabilise its leadership and governance. The party’s Alan Beesley says the recent report by the Auditor-General to Parliament’s standing committee on Public Accounts paints a grim picture of SITA’s performance. He says instead of enabling service delivery, the agency is actively undermining it:
# The British high commission in Pretoria has apologised to EFF leader Julius Malema after his UK visa was not processed in time for a Cambridge University conference this weekend. High commissioner Antony Phillipson cited standard procedures and recent UK bank holidays as reasons for the delay after Malema accused the country of deliberate sabotage. The commission has offered full refunds to Malema and his team and noted it lacked authority over visa approvals.
# Motorsport: South Africa’s Bradley Cox has signed his first factory rider contract to join French team Sherco Rally in the World Rally-Raid Championship. He is the son of Alfie Cox, an official KTM rider from 1998 to 2005, three times on the Dakar podium, and winner of eight stages. Twenty-three-year-old Bradley was the winner of the Rally2 World Cup last year. He will make his RallyGP racing debut at the Safari Rally from the 18th to the 24th of this month in preparation for Dakar 2026.
# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-22-cents and the euro at 20-rand-58-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-19-cents and Bitcoin trades at 99-thousand-683-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-340-dollars-58-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 61-dollars-59-cents a barrel.
# And finally: With May being Child Protection Month, government is calling on all South Africans to unite in safeguarding the dignity, safety, and innocence of every child. Reports state that more than half the children in the country continue to live below the poverty line. Violence, poverty and malnutrition, inequality, and inadequate access to essential services continue to hinder children’s survival, growth, and development. Government’s spokesperson, Nokululeko Mtshali, says the protection of children is a shared responsibility:
Stay tuned for more news………….