News 18:00

BULLETIN 24 January 6 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The offices of two Cape Town mayoral committee members are raided
# A significant petrol price increase is expected in February
# And golf: St Andrews will again host the Open Championship in 2027

# Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has requested an urgent briefing from police following a raid on the offices of mayoral committee members for Safety and Security, JP Smith, and for Informal Settlements, Water, Waste Services and Energy, Xanthea Limberg, today. The mayor says both members are cooperating fully but remain unaware of any allegations. Hill-Lewis emphasised the importance of clarity and urged police to extend transparency to determine further action.

Meanwhile, the GOOD Party has called for the suspension of Smith and Limberg. Police confirmed the investigation relates to tender fraud in the city’s construction sector. This raid has followed a similar process to that of former mayoral committee member for Human Settlements, Malusi Booi. GOOD’s Brett Herron demands transparency from Hill-Lewis to disclose the investigation:

# Motorists should brace themselves for significant fuel price hikes in February. Central Energy Fund data shows under-recoveries of 86- to 93-cents-per-litre for petrol and around one-rand-10-cents-per-litre for diesel, despite a stronger rand and lower oil prices. According to Business Tech, recent rand gains and oil price drops will take time to impact prices. Economists warn rising fuel costs could push inflation higher, adding pressure to household budgets early in the year.

# Green Connection says it joins the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute and groundWork, strongly critiquing Eskom’s latest proposal. The National Energy Regulator is commencing with public hearings regarding Eskom’s proposed Retail Tariff Plan next month. Green Connection’s Liz McDaid says what is needed is a comprehensive stakeholder process where the entire country can engage on electricity and energy issues:

# Golf: The St Andrews’ Old Course in Scotland will host the 155th Open Championship for a record-extending 31st time in 2027. This maintains the five-year cycle the Old Course has traditionally had. The Open was last held at St Andrews in 2022 when Australian Cameron Smith won the 150th edition of the sport’s oldest major. Governing body R&A’s chief executive, Mark Darbon, says the Open promises to be another milestone occasion at one of the sport’s greatest and most historic venues.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-38-cents and the euro at 19-rand-24-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-81-cents and Bitcoin trades at 105-thousand-39-dollars. Gold sells at two-thousand-779-dollars-87-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 77-dollars-98-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….