News 14:00

BULLETIN 21 January 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Action Society condemns the 23rd postponement in the Nadia Lotz murder trial
# The United Africans Transformation slams the 3.8-percent MP salary increase
# And golf: Durban is set to welcome world-class international players for the Durban Open

# Action Society condemns repeated delays in the Nadia Lotz murder trial. It was postponed in the Strand Regional Court in Cape Town for the 23rd time after the defence says it was unprepared. Lotz’s boyfriend, Charles Appollis, stands accused of murdering her on 4 March 2023. Action Society’s Kaylynn Palm says the trial has left Lotz’s family distraught and very little progress has been made with the trial since the murder almost three years ago. She says proceedings are set to resume next Friday:

# United Africans Transformation has condemned the 3.8-percent salary increase for Members of Parliament, stating that it discredits struggling South Africans. Spokesperson Doer Mabule says the decision shows political leaders are detached from poverty, hunger and failing services. Mabule argues Parliament has failed in oversight and accountability, and says rewarding MPs despite under-performance is unjustifiable. He calls for the immediate reversal of the salary increase:

Meanwhile, Forum for South Africa has described the South African Breweries’ wage offer of a four-percent increase as insulting. The Food and Allied Workers’ Union demanded an 11-percent increase, but then compromised and dropped its demand to 7.5-percent and later to 5.5-percent. FOSA leader, Tebogo Mashilompane, says SAB’s wage offer is an attack on the dignity and survival of workers:

# Golf: The historic Durban Country Club is set to host a strong field for the Durban Open next month. The tournament plays a key role in the quest of South African professionals to make a fast start on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and thereby try to gain promotion to the DP World Tour for next season. 2022 champion JC Ritchie became the first South African in history to finish top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings last season, thereby graduating to the DP World Tour.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-34-cents and the euro at 19-rand-13-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-91-cents and Bitcoin trades at 89-thousand-237-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-861-dollars-72-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-92-cents a barrel.

# And finally: Netflix has secured additional debt from Wall Street banks to finance its amended all-cash bid for Warner Brothers Discovery’s studio and streaming business. Regulatory filings show Netflix now has 692-billion-rand in bridge loans, typically replaced by long-term bonds. The streaming giant agreed to pay the full purchase price in cash, amid rival interest from Paramount Skydance. Banks providing the latest financing boost include Wells Fargo, French multinational universal bank BNP Paribas and banking and financial services institution HSBC.

Stay tuned for more news………….