News 17:00

BULLETIN 1 September 5 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Petrol and diesel prices will decrease from Wednesday
# Government steps up the fight against foot-and-mouth disease
# And cricket: Prize money for the Women’s World Cup has increased to 244-million-rand

# The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has announced petrol prices will drop by four-cents per litre for both 93 and 95-octane, effective from Wednesday. Diesel prices will also fall, with decreases of 56- to 57-cents per litre depending on the sulphur content. Illuminating paraffin’s wholesale prices drop by 37-cents per litre, while retail prices fall by 49-cents per litre. LP gas sees the biggest cut, with a decrease of one-rand-32-cents per kilogram.

# South Africa’s steel giant ArcelorMittal is set to complete the wind-down of its long steel business by the end of this month. The closure will affect three-thousand-500 workers in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal, Vereeniging in Gauteng, and the rail and structural unit. Efforts to save the business, including government support, failed. CEO Kobus Verster blames ongoing losses, high electricity and rail costs and cheap imports. The company lost over a billion-rand in the first half of this year and plans to sell non-core assets to focus on its main steel business.

# Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen says government is stepping in to curb the devastating foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. Steenhuisen confirmed 274 unresolved cases across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, North West and Mpumalanga. He confirmed the receipt of the remaining 400-thousand vaccine doses from Botswana, with 50-thousand already distributed. Steenhuisen says the remaining doses will target outbreak hotspots in the Free State, Mpumalanga, North West, and Gauteng:

# The Department of Social Development’s new online non-profit organisations registration and compliance monitoring system is operational from today. This is in line with the department’s strategy to digitise its service for better service delivery, accessibility and accountability. The department’s spokesperson, Lumka Oliphant, says the NPOs will benefit from the system’s integration with other regulatory bodies, such as the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, the South African Revenue Service, and the Department of Home Affairs:

# Cricket: Prize money for the Women’s World Cup cricket will outstrip the men’s edition, boasting an overall purse of 244-million-rand. The International Cricket Council announced the prize pot is up from 62-million-rand in 2022 and eclipses the total 176-million-rand for the last men’s World Cup. The 13th edition of the women’s showpiece 50-over tournament starts in India and Sri Lanka on 30 September. The winners will get 88-million-rand. That is a 239-percent increase on the prize money awarded to Australia in 2022.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 17-rand-59-cents and the euro at 20-rand-60-cents. One British pound costs 23-rand-81-cents and Bitcoin trades at 109-thousand-511-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-477-dollars-34-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 68-dollars-16-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….