News 14:00

BULLETIN 3 December 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# A private rail operator plans to invest 3.4-billion-rand in rolling stock in South Africa
# The Competition Commission refers eight shipping giants for prosecution
# And rugby: The 2027 World Cup draw pools the Springboks with Italy, Georgia and Romania

# Private rail operator Traxtion has announced a 3.4-billion-rand rolling stock investment in South Africa. The investment comprises 1.8-billion-rand in locomotives and 1.6-billion-rand in wagons. Traxtion CEO James Holley says the programme includes 46 diesel-electric locomotives sourced from KiwiRail in New Zealand. He adds this is the largest private freight rail investment in South Africa’s history in terms of fleet size and value, with a minimum of 60-percent local content target and creating 662 direct jobs.

# The Competition Commission has referred eight major cargo shipping companies to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution over alleged price-fixing. The firms include Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company, French cargo shipping company CMA CGM Group, Evergreen, and China’s COSCO Shipping Corporation. They are accused of fixing general rate increases on routes linking South Africa with Asia and West Africa. The alleged collusion ran from 2008 to 2018, with identical rate hikes charged on routes including Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, and Durban.

# Suspended Ekurhuleni Metro Police deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi has told the Madlanga commission his relationship with controversial businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala began in 2022 after being introduced by Medicare24 director Mike van Wyk in Boksburg. This eventually led to the signing of two memoranda of agreements with Medicare24 and Matlala’s CAT VIP Protection services. Mkhwanazi is accused of approving the provision of bluelights to Matlala’s company. He says he informed senior officials and held bilateral discussions:

Moving abroad:

# North Atlantic Treaty Organisation secretary general, Mark Rutte, says Ukraine remains on an irreversible path to join the world’s biggest security alliance, but currently there is no consensus on the matter. The 28-point US peace deal suggests that NATO would not expand further, a longtime Russian demand, and that Ukraine would not be admitted into the alliance. Rutte says for Ukraine to become a member, it would require the unanimous agreement of all 32 allies:

# Rugby: South Africa will be in Pool B together with Italy, Georgia and Romania for 2027’s World Cup in Australia. The official draw took place in Sydney today. For the first time there will be 24 teams competing in six pools. New Zealand, the hosts, Chile, and Hong Kong China are in Pool A, and Argentina, Fiji, Spain, and Canada in Pool C. Pool D consists of Ireland, Scotland, Uruguay, and Portugal; France, Japan, the USA, and Samoa are in Pool E; and England, Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe in Pool F.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-8-cents and the euro at 19-rand-91-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-69-cents and Bitcoin trades at 93-thousand-183-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-198-dollars-12-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-21-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….